The Darkest Hour
by Mr. Frank
Summary: It is in the darkest hour that our heroes are truly born, and as the Earth faces its final battle its heroes will face their greatest test of all...
1. Chapter 1

**A**s a massive fan of both Cartoon Network and outrageously epic crossovers I was in love with the idea of FusionFall from the moment the idea was announced. I've never been able to play it, so all of my knowledge comes from the FusionFall wiki and extensive time spent trolling the FusionFall site. The idea of the cartoon forces structuring that you'll see hinted at in this chapter came from both the way the game is set up and what I've seen of the fandom on deviantART, so it might not be very true to the game (if anyone who plays has any suggestions or advice I'd love to hear it). Actually, if anyone has any ideas they think would help this story or make it better please don't hesitate to let me know!

* * *

_Time Until the End of the Earth: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes_

* * *

Blossom sighed softly, resting her chin in her hand as she looked out from her small bedroom window. Vast space stared back at her, a smattering of billions of sparkles covering an immense abyss. From this side of the ship she couldn't see Planet Fusion, didn't have to watch as it slowly absorbed Earth into its mass.

She didn't have to be reminded of all they had failed to save.

It had been Numbuh One's idea, initially, to stay. He'd told them that he couldn't, in good conscience, simply abandon everything. He didn't think they deserved to get off so easily, not when so many had been left behind. And if not for the survivors, he'd argued, then at least for those who hadn't made it—they deserved to at least have their friends close till the very end.

Blossom had fully agreed with Numbuh One from the moment he'd suggested staying, but that hadn't made the actual _act_ of staying put—of seeing the only place she'd ever called home sucked in by Fuse like it was nothing more than a jawbreaker—any easier.

Her door opened, distracting her from her solemn musings.

"Blossom?"

"Hi Bubbles," Blossom said, turning to smile at her sister. The blonde wasn't smiling back, her large eyes downturned as she moved into the doorway. "What's up?"

"Dexter said it's almost time," Bubbles mumbled, still looking down. Her hands were clasped tightly at her waist. Blossom's smile faded.

"Oh." She couldn't think of anything else to say. Bubbles looked as miserable as she felt though, so she knew she needed to say something. "Do you want to wait it out in here with me?" she offered. Bubbled surprised her with a sudden, fierce look.

"How can you say that?" she asked.

"Bubbles—?"

"After everything, you want to run and hide now?" Bubbles hands were now curled into fists. "I thought you were stronger than that!"

"Bubbles," Blossom said, startled by her sister's reaction, "I didn't mean it like that." Bubbles, not built to carry anger, deflated with her sister's words.

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry. I just…we should be there…for her, you know?" She trailed off, toeing the carpet uncertainly

"Yeah," Blossom slowly nodded, looking down at her lap. "I know." She looked back up when Bubbles's hand appeared around her own.

"We'll go together," she announced, attempting an encouraging smile. "The Professor will be there too," she added, "and all the others. We can do this with them." A small return smile pulled at the corners of Blossom's lips.

"You're right," she said, climbing to her feet. She gave her sister's hand a squeeze, bolstered when the small act helped her sister's smile gain a little more strength. "Come on," she said, tugging the blonde towards the door. "We don't want to be late!"

Surprised—but in no way disappointed—by her sister's abrupt change in attitude, Bubbles hurried to keep up as they started down the hall.

"We'll never get there on time like this," she said. At Blossom's questioning look, Bubbles jumped into the air, gripping Blossom's hand in both of her so she could pull her up off the ground as well. With a startled shout, Blossom hung for a moment before joining her sister in flight, and the two raced down the winding hallways, pink and blue trailing in their wake.

Their pace picked up as they left the narrow dormitory corridors, emerging into the wider walkways of the main ship. A few people milled about, looking, for the most part, unable to figure out what they should be doing. They didn't say anything to the passing Powerpuffs—the girls didn't slow enough to let them—and soon the girls had left them behind, winding their way through the ship's more restricted halls.

"Watch it!" a technician barked as they swooped past him. The girls, their attention focused, ignored him.

Their destination wasn't far now.

The girls slowed as they reached the very front of the ship, dropping back to the floor as they passed through the entrance to the ship's vast observation deck. They were unsurprised to see quite the group was already assembled. A few people nodded to the girls in greeting, but most seemed not to notice their arrival, their attentions focused outside of the vast space station.

Numbuh One stood at the very front of the crowd, the stars reflecting in his sunglasses as he stared at the massive green planet in the distance. Numbuh Three stood beside him, his hand held in one of hers, Numbuh Two's in the other. Dexter was with them, hands clasped tightly behind his back, along with Gwen, her expression strained. Bloo was pressed so close to the glass, Blossom wondered if he wouldn't simply faze through it.

And standing behind the imaginary friend, looking older than he ever had before, was the Professor. The girls glided over to him, each silently taking one of his hands and holding it tight between both of their own. The Professor gave a tiny start, looking down at his little girls in surprise.

"Are you sure you want to be here for this?" he asked gently. They both nodded.

"We couldn't be anywhere else," Blossom answered. A few of the other looked over at her words, nodding their solemn agreement. None of them had ever thought they would have to watch the scene about to unfold before them, yet not a one of them would even consider being anywhere else.

"Dexter."

Blossom looked up, surprised to see that Mandy was now standing beside the small scientist, the Grim Reaper hovering just past her shoulder. She hadn't seen the girl come in.

"Hmm?" Dexter didn't look at his fellow commander. Mandy didn't seem to mind, shifting to mimic his pose.

"How much longer?"

Her simple question sent a thrum of energy around the room. Suddenly all eyes were on Dexter, waiting for the redhead to respond.

"Not long," he said. His gaze never left Planet Fusion, and Blossom felt her own attention being slowly pulled back to the immense destroyer of worlds.

The figure Planet Fusion cut against the starry sky was truly horrible, she thought. Its great mass had shifted and spread, stretching out to form massive extensions reaching for Earth. It was like watching an amoeba under a microscope, extending its entire mass out around a particle of food, which it would absorb and ingest, breaking it down into nothing.

A shudder raced through her at the thought, and she clung a little more tightly to her father.

And then Dexter's voice broke through the silence, whisper quiet and yet unbearably loud as he uttered two simple, life changing words:

"It's starting."

The energy in the room shifted. Eddy joined Bloo in attempting to press through the glass. The green suited providence agent in the corner also moved closer to the glass, the monkey beside him looking away for a moment before turning back.

"How long?" Mandy whispered. Grim had vanished from her side, a fact most tried to ignore.

"Ninety seconds," Dexter answered. Blossom gripped the Professor's hand tighter. Could her entire world truly vanish in less time than it took to pop popcorn?

The few half digested planets sticking out of Planet Fusion shifted as the planet began engulfing the blue and green orb that those gathered had fought so desperately hard to protect. Its progress was both maddeningly slow and, when one considered the immensity of both objects, terrifyingly quick.

"Eighty seconds," Dexter breathed.

Drew Saturday clung to her husband, who himself looked like he was barely keeping his legs beneath himself as he watched his home, and his family, slip from view.

"Seventy seconds."

An agonized whine escaped Courage, the pink dog pulling his ears in distress. Juniper scooped him up and hugged him close, trying to comfort them both.

"Sixty seconds."

A muffled sob announced the otherwise silent tears streaming down Numbuh Three's face.

"Fifty seconds."

Sucking in a shaky breath, Gwen stepped up to the glass. Tears dripped from her lashes as she gently placed her hand against the window.

"Forty seconds."

Sniffing loudly, Bubbles copied the older girl, Blossom right behind her.

"Thirty seconds."

More hands soon joined them.

"Twenty seconds."

Dexter placed a gloved hand beside Gwen's.

"Ten seconds."

With a brief hesitation, Mandy's hand appeared beside Dexter's.

"Five seconds."

Everyone tensed, no one capable of looking away now. Almost all of Earth was lost from sight, engulfed by Fuse.

"Four seconds."

Numbuh One's hand curled into a fist against the glass.

"Three."

"You fought bravely until the very end," the KND leader said softly.

"Two."

"You won't be forgotten."

"One."

Bright green came together, obscuring Earth completely from view. Faint crying echoed throughout the otherwise silent room, Dexter's final count hanging heavy in the air. A soft sigh escaped the redhead and, for the first time since entering the observation deck, he allowed his gaze to fall. His head hung, eyes screwed shut as he whispered, "Zero."

Blossom's own gaze dropped as she found herself no longer able to look at the one enemy she couldn't defeat. She leaned into the Professor. Bubbles had buried her face against his other side, crying quietly into his lab coat.

And then Numbuh Two's shout rang out, startling everyone.

"Look!" he cried, pointing at Planet Fusion.

"We've already seen it," Mandy snapped angrily. Numbuh Two looked confused for a moment, before shaking his head hard.

"No, that's not what I mean! There's some kind of light coming out of Planet Fusion!"

"What?" Dexter snapped, his head jerking back up. "What are you talking about?" he started to ask, but trailed off halfway through his sentence as he looked at the planet in question. All around the area where Earth had been sucked in, bright white light was breaking through the planet's surface. The spots of light grew rapidly, spreading out across the lump that covered Earth, connecting together and forming a single mass of light which then began to spread across the rest of the planet.

"Is that…supposed to happen?" Juniper asked. Both Dexter and Numbuh Two were shaking their heads.

"Not according to any of my calculations," Dexter said.

"Or the simulations," Gwen added. Mandy frowned.

"Then what's going on?" she demanded. Dexter's eyes narrowed, but before he could say more the light surrounding Planet Fusion suddenly exploded, surging towards the space station with a shock wave that rocked the entire ship sideways as everything faded to white.


	2. Chapter 2

**A**nd here comes chapter 2! Finally got to play FusionFall today (ugh it's so fun and so very not-good-at-videogames-but-still-wants-to-try friendly), but that certainly doesn't mean I'm not still open to any and all suggestions you may have. I just sort of crammed this chapter with characters I liked, so feedback on them as well is greatly appreciated. Thank you to my wonderful reviewer, and enjoy~!

* * *

_Time Until the End of the Earth: 4 Days, 20 Hours, 29 minutes_

* * *

Concentration, complete and uninterrupted, was epitomized in that moment by two blue eyes looking out from behind black-rimmed glasses. A wrench much too big to be logical moved back and forth in a steady rhythm—tighten, release, place, tighten, repeat—ensuring a tight hold at the joint of a massive rabbit robot. A simple repair job, commissioned by one of the few KND Dexter didn't find completely ridiculous to be near.

Tighten, release, place, repeat—

_Crash_.

Dexter's grip on the massive wrench slipped, the oversized tool jerking free from the equally oversized bolt and clattering to the floor, taking a few of Dexter's toes out in the process.

"Deedee!" Dexter bellowed, a mix of pain and annoyance carrying his voice to the farthest reaches of his lab. Silence followed as his shout echoed about in the lab's deepest corners, and then—

"Not quite, Einstein."

"Wha—Kevin!" Dexter's gaze narrowed as he watched the teen osmosian sauntering towards him. "What are you doing in my laboratory?" he demanded. Kevin raised an eyebrow at the smaller boy before pulling something from his pocket and showing it to the redhead. It was an ID card, a green bar along the bottom signifying that he had clearance to enter the lab.

"You hired me, remember?" Kevin asked. Dexter's eyes narrowed.

"I do not," he said, which was not entirely true. He did remember updating the boy's access to allow him into the lab, as his expertise in alien technology and astrophysics had proven a valuable tool in the war against Fuse. However, Dexter wouldn't go so far as to say he'd _hired_ the boy.

"You are not an employee of DexLabs," he stated, bending down to pick up his wrench. "You are simply an advisor to myself, here to answer any questions I might have concerning any unfamiliar alien technology we come across during our battles. Furthermore, as an advisor you are not granted permission to access my laboratory any time you wish, only when I call for your assistance, and then—are you listening to me?"

"Mhmm," Kevin hummed, clearly ignoring Dexter as he ducked beneath the robot the boy genius was currently working on. "This construction's a little rough looking for a DexLabs product," he observed, poking at one of the leg's hydraulic pumps, which looked as if it was held on with… "Is that taffy?" he asked.

"Yes," Dexter answered stiffly. "And no, this monstrosity is not one of my inventions. How could you believe I would ever create something so…girly?"

"Maybe it's your sister's?" Kevin tried, vanishing behind one of the rabbit's legs.

"Do not touch anything!" Dexter snapped, hurrying after the older boy. "And if you must know, it belongs to Numbuh Three." Dexter frowned when he got around to the robot's other side, only to find Kevin was already gone.

"Really?" the teen asked, reappearing at the front of the fluffy destroyer. He raised an eyebrow at the bunny's pointed teeth. "I think she's got her biology a little off," he said, tapping one of the canines.

"You think?" Dexter muttered.

"What's its name?" Dexter blinked.

"What?" he asked. Kevin pointed to the robot.

"You said it belongs to Numbuh Three, right?" Dexter nodded. "Then I know the thing's got a name. What is it?" Understanding dawned on Dexter, and he frowned with distaste as he answered,

"Hippity Hop." Kevin snorted.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because you have _met_ Kuki?" Dexter tried, arriving at the robot's head only to find that Kevin had again vanished. Dexter sighed his aggravation. "Why must you keep wandering off?"

"What's this thing do?" Kevin shouted, and Dexter spun around, trying to pinpoint the boy's location.

"Whatever it is, _do not_ _touch_ _it_!" Dexter shouted, just as a hologram of Computress appeared, pointing to the right. Quickly thanking his computer, Dexter hurried in the direction she'd indicated, arriving just in time to see Kevin's body turn a metallic red color.

"Whoa," Kevin breathed, flexing one of his fists. "What is this stuff?"

"An experimental polycarbonate that you shouldn't be touching, let alone absorbing," Dexter barked. "All tests have shown that it will eventually begin breaking down and become radioactive. As counterproductive to protecting my laboratory as it may be, I would prefer you not begin decaying any time soon."

"I didn't know you cared, Dex," Kevin said as the red color faded from his body.

"Dexter," the boy genius huffed.

"Huh?"

"My name is Dexter." Kevin stared at the shorter boy.

"I know that. And mine's Kevin," he added. "Not Deedee." Dexter frowned at the jab. The frown deepened when Kevin wandered off once more. Dexter covered his face with a gloved hand, sucking a deep breath through his noise as Kevin shouted, "What's this thing?" Following after the teen, Dexter found the boy imitating his sister's favorite stance—brow furrowed, finger primed to push the bright red button that had caught her eye.

"Do not touch that button!" Dexter shouted, quickly imposing himself between Kevin and the machine he'd been reaching for.

"What is it?" Kevin asked, amused by Dexter's knee-jerk response. Dexter frowned at him.

"If you must know, it is a teleporter. An _incomplete_ teleporter," he added when he saw Kevin's eyes light up.

"Incomplete?" Kevin asked. Dexter frowned when this seemed to only piqué the boy's interest all the more. "What's wrong with it?" Dexter sighed, turning to look up at the machine.

"So far I've only been able to come up with one viable way of teleporting something—breaking it apart to its most basic parts, sending those where I want them to go, and then reassembling them."

"Sounds reasonable," Kevin said. Dexter nodded.

"In theory."

"But," Kevin supplied. Dexter scowled.

"I have discovered a fairly major…complication."

"Limited locations?" Kevin guessed. "A system like this would require two transporters, right, like the ones out in the field?"

"It would," Dexter agreed. "As you have seen, I have previously successfully constructed a teleportation machine of that kind." Dexter hesitated, cringing slightly at the memory of having a fly's head for his own. "For the most part successful," he amended. "This system, however, is different."

"Yeah?" Kevin said, eyeing the machine with new interest.

"I am attempting to eliminate the problem of needing two transport chambers," Dexter explained. "Using a system of satellites, I can direct the atoms to their new location, and even get them to reassemble, without the need for a second chamber or platform." Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Reassemble correctly?" he asked. Dexter frowned.

"I have been testing it on apples for the most part." He sighed. "What I have been receiving post teleportation…let's just say calling it applesauce would almost be too generous. I haven't even considered moving on to living subjects."

"…Ew." Dexter nodded.

"Precisely." Dexter then grabbed onto Kevin's arm, stopping the boy before he could wander off any further.

"Yes?" Kevin asked, eyeing the spot where Dexter held his arm before staring at the boy genius.

"Before you go wandering off and touching something else you shouldn't," Dexter said, "how about telling me _why _you are in my laboratory in the first place."

"I already told you—"

"—because you work here," Dexter finished. "Yes, yes, I know that you mistakenly believe this. But I know that is not your real reason for being here." He eyed Kevin pointedly.

"Okay, okay," Kevin said, shrugging. "While I did kind of come down here to just to bug you—" Dexter scowled at him "—Mandy also wanted me to let you know that the shipment carrying your proto-cores was delayed. She was actually kind of surprised you hadn't noticed yourself."

"Mandy?" Dexter asked. "Why isn't Juniper handling my shipments? Last I checked she was in command of supply transportation."

"They moved her to the field," Kevin said, "Something about Special Operations and monster something or others. Actually, I think she's escorting your proto-cores home. Anyway, they tried to get Gwen to take over the transports but she's already covering her Blossom's work as it is, and that's on top of her own. I think they picked Mandy because of the whole 'Grim Reaper in her back pocket' thing. Helps them keep an eye on the area, what with all his reaper spot things, you know?"

Dexter, who had stopped listening to Kevin somewhere around 'They moved her to the field,' frowned as he considered Kevin's words. If Juniper wasn't handling his shipments, and Mandy had sent Kevin…

"Delayed?" Dexter asked, a different kind of frown creeping across his face. "Computress!" A hologram of Dexter's super computer appeared between the two boys. Kevin winked playfully at her. Computress looked less than impressed.

"Yes, Dexter?" she asked.

"What day is it?"

"Wednesday," Computress and Kevin chorused. The computer A.I. frowned at Kevin, who grinned back.

"Wednesday," Dexter muttered, ignoring them both. "That means…my shipment is late!"

"…Yes," Kevin agreed, glancing at the redhead and then back to Computress. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Dexter?" Computress said, ignoring the older boy as she awaited instruction.

"Computress, what is the status of the most recent batch of Null-Void guns?"

"All two hundred and sixty four are as completed as they can be without the proto-cores."

"Which can't be finished without the components I'm waiting on," Dexter muttered.

"How much longer will the guns need once the components arrive?" Kevin asked, his demeanor suddenly infused with a seriousness that had been lacking since he'd first arrived in the lab.

"A few days," Dexter said. "Three if my staff worked non-stop. Assembling proto-cores is an exact and tricky science." Kevin frowned thoughtfully.

"Those Urban Ranger kids at Peach Creek are waiting on this shipment. They've finally been convinced that cardboard walls won't keep Fuse back forever. Not that they aren't exactly proving successful."

"A fact I find hard to believe," Dexter muttered, attention still mostly focused on working out production timelines.

"I had to see it to believe it," Kevin agreed. "So, what do we do about this?"

"We?" Dexter repeated, raising an eyebrow. "We do not do anything. I will go and speak with Mandy concerning this problem. Computress!" Dexter barked, turning on his heel, "Please see to it that Mr. Levin makes it out of my laboratory without incident. And without touching anything," he added, glancing over his shoulder just in time to see Kevin pulling his hand back from the teleporter.

"Yes, Dexter," Computress said, disappearing and reappearing beside Kevin, who jumped.

"Good luck, Dex!" Kevin called after the retreating scientist.

"I do not need luck," was the redhead's response. When he was out of sight Kevin glanced up at Computress.

"If he were talking to June, maybe not," Kevin said. "But Mandy…"

"Does this require luck?" Computress asked. Kevin snorted.

"A lot of luck."

* * *

Juniper Lee sighed, lounging back against the raised curve of the semi-truck atop which she currently sat. She could just make out the shape of Sector V's tree house floating over Hero's Square in the distance. _Almost home_, she thought, smiling to herself. The smile faded though as she thought of the report she would be writing up, especially the worrying information she was planning to write within it. She looked down at the truck beneath her, eyeing one of the half dozen scorch marks it now carried. _It's like they knew we were coming._

June and her team had set out almost two weeks previously, taking a two day S.C.A.M.P.E.R. flight out to the literal middle of Nowhere. It turned out Providence had a super secret manufacturing base there, situated only a short distance from what seemed to be the only house for miles. The base had been working on preparing components for Dexter's proto-cores—work considered a little to explosive to be carried out in the heart of DexLabs. It was the duty of Juniper and her team to transport these components back to Dexter, so that he could finish construction on his most recent batch of Null-Void Guns.

Unfortunately, the components had to be stored in a ridiculously specific way (Dexter's orders) which required the kinds of space and temperature control that even a small squadron of S.C.A.M.P.E.R.S. couldn't provide. And so they'd instead relied on trucks for shipment—a much more dangerous and time consuming form of transportation.

"And predictable, apparently," Juniper muttered to herself. At least, that was one of the only explanations she had for how, five days into the journey—exactly half way to their destination—they'd been surprise ambushed by a mass of fusion monsters. Dozens of Wild Skeeters had kept them in constant combat for almost an entire day. Juniper had been terrified that every single wild shot from either side would send their trucks up in some kind of radiated explosion.

Luckily, they'd managed to hold ground, although random Skeeters continued to appear for the next few days as they hurried to put space between themselves and the impromptu battleground. It wasn't until they'd gone almost a day without an enemy attack that one of the soldiers with them, a young boy named something along the lines of Silver Wolflord, had chanced voicing his opinion on the strange incident.

"Does anyone else think that was really weird?" he'd asked as the team sat around a tiny campfire. A few curious gazes looked up from cleaning weapons and checking maps, prompting the operative to continue. "I mean the Skeeter attacks," he mumbled, uncomfortable under all of the attention. "How did they know where we'd be?"

"They didn't," one of the older boys said, rolling his eyes. "The whole world is swarming with fusion monsters. It's not that surprising that they happened to stumble across us."

"Seriously," another agreed.

"You're just over thinking it," the girl beside the young soldier said. She placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It was just a case of wrong place, wrong time. Don't worry yourself making more out of a coincidence then you have to." Wolflord looked less than convinced, but he let the matter drop. However, not everyone was so eager to simply let the matter go.

"You know, that kid had a point," Numbuh Six-Eighty-Three, the group's K.N.D. ambassador, said later that night as he and Juniper sat up together as the first watch of the night.

"Hmm?" Juniper asked, glancing over at the boy. He was an older operative, one Numbuh One himself had personally assigned to the mission.

"Earlier, what that kid said about the Skeeter attack. Most of the others thought it was nothing, but I have to agree with him—how did Fuse know where we were?"

"You don't think it was just dumb luck?" Juniper asked. Six-Eighty-Three shook his head.

"If it was just something basic we were transporting, like clothes or less important equipment, maybe." He shrugged. "I could be over thinking it myself, but the fact that we're transporting the final components needed for Dexter's guns? It just makes sense for Fuse to come after us."

"And stop us from increasing our power," Juniper said, continuing the thought.

"And the timing of it all," he added, realizing Juniper was on board with his thinking, "don't you think it's strange that an attack just happened to occur at the exact midpoint between our destinations? The place where we're it would take the longest to receive backup?"

"You're right," Juniper agreed. "It makes the most sense to attack us then. We're starting to wear out, we're half depleted of resources, backup is almost a day's flight away." Numbuh Six-Eighty-Thee nodded as she spoke.

"Not painting a very pretty picture, is it?"

"No," Juniper agreed. "But that means either Fuse is an incredibly lucky alien, or…" Six-Eighty-Three's expression was grim.

Even now, a day and a half later, Juniper's grip on her weapon tightened as she thought about what her teammate had said, about what she was going to have to tell the others.

"_Or he already knew we'd be there."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Y**ay, chapter three! I didn't base the soldier characters off of any FusionFall players in particular (but if I used you name by accident then welcome to the story!). Got Mandy in there because people in this fandom seem to really like her (and why not, her show is rather fantastic). As always, comments, critique, and suggestions are always welcome! Enjoy~

* * *

_Time Until the End of the Earth: 4 Days,20 Hours, 09 minutes_

* * *

Warm, sticky air gusted faintly through the trees, providing little relief from the humidity and carrying with it wafts of the chemical smelling smoke spilling out of the mangled wreck that had once been their transport. Numbuh Five sighed, gazing up at the wreckage. Tugging lightly on the brim of her cap to block the bright, jungle sun, she turned her gaze to where the rest of her current team was regrouping. To avoid lumping the entirety of the sector V team into a single mission and limit the number of commanders available, Numbuh Five had been assigned four young, freshly trained recruits to accompany her on what was intended to be a simple reconnaissance mission.

Of course, when you're at war with an entire plant soldiers are a much needed commodity, and getting them out of training and onto the battlefield meant that training wasn't always as thorough as a commander like Numbuh Five would have liked. Freshly trained could be equivalent to handed-a-gun-and-sent-on-their-way. Which seemed to describe Numbuh Five's current group rather precisely. Toting weapons Numbuh Five was certain they weren't qualified to carry and clothed in a mishmash of armor, the kids under the older K.N.D.'s command seemed less than confident in their battle skills. Combined with their almost awkward and whimsical names, they looked a lot less like soldiers and a lot more like children playing make believe.

"Angel," Numbuh Five called, focusing her gaze on one of the recruits. The young girl, a few years younger than Numbuh Five, blinked in surprise at being addressed, and actually glanced around herself quickly, as if to check that there wasn't another person standing behind her. Numbuh Five frowned at her reaction. "Angel Lightningbug," she repeated tersely, motioning for the girl to join her. After another anxious look over her shoulder, the girl hurried over to her commanding officer.

Peeking out from below scruffy red bangs, Angel stared up at Numbuh Five with a look akin to awe as she nervously fingered one of the switches along the side of her large weapon. Numbuh Five thought, not for the first time since meeting the girl, that such a massive weapon seemed just a little too large and lethal for someone of her level of training.

"Uh, y-yes Numbuh Five?" Angel asked, wincing when she stuttered.

"Report," Numbuh Five barked. Angel gaped a little, clearly struggling to decide what, exactly, Numbuh five was asking for. The older girl swallowed a sigh, deciding to give the girl a nudge in the right direction. "Is anyone hurt?" she asked. "What were we able to salvage from the wreck? Did you contact the tree house?"

"Zigzag sprained his wrist and it looks like Grey has a concussion, but everyone else is alright. The only weapons and supplies that survived were the ones we were carrying when we crashed." Angel paused, looking away from Numbuh Five. "And we can't get a hold of Headquarters."

"Great, just what Numbuh Five needs," Numbuh Five muttered, frowning. It was lucky that they'd sustained so few injuries, but the lack of supplies was worrying. "Is the radio broken?" she asked. Angel shook her head.

"Just out of range," she said. Numbuh Five sighed in relief. Out of range was good. Out of range, they could fix. They'd been in radio contact shortly before they were shot down, so if they headed back the way they'd come, they were sure to come across an area of reception. As long as they stayed clear of whatever it was that had brought them out of the sky, of course.

Hefting her weapon, a Dexlabs produced null-void gun, Numbuh Five turned and marched away from Angel, the little red head scrambling to follow as her commander made her way over to the rest of her team. One boy, who was draped in two crisscrossing sashes loaded with plasma grenades, was clutching at his wrist sullenly, while a blonde girl with what appeared to be a guitar affixed to her back sat with her head in her hands. Another boy sat between them, ignoring them both in favor of fiddling wildly the team's remaining radio transmitter. Other than the array of tools he carried on his person, he seemed to be unarmed.

"Okay team, here's what we're gonna do," Numbuh Five announced. Her new subordinates looked up with mixed levels of interest.

"Before you start," the boy with the injured wrist, Zigzag, said, "tell me this—does this plan of yours involve a lot of waiting around to be rescued? Because if it doesn't, I don't want any part of it." Numbuh Five gaped at the boy, her train of thought momentarily derailed by his unabashed insubordination. What kind of soft handed training were these kids receiving back at the Academy?

"Zigzag, take that back!" Angel gasped. "That's no way to talk to your commanding officer."

"Our commanding officer is the one who got us into this mess in the first place!" Zigzag shot back. "So I think I can talk to her however I see fit."

"Could you keep it down?" the blonde, Grey asked, lifting her head just enough to glower at her teammates.

"Oh, sorry," Zigzag responded scathingly, "didn't mean to be so loud. After all, even though we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere, with enemies all around, I really should still be mindful of your stupid headache."

"Jerk," Grey muttered.

"You really are a jerk," Angel agreed.

"And you're both annoying," Zigzag told them. "Girls are so stupid," he continued, "I can't believe I have to be on a team with _three _of them."

"That's it," Numbuh Five said, interrupting the trio's fighting before it could get any louder. Storming over to Zigzag, Numbuh five grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting the boy bodily up.

"Hey, watch it!" he squeaked, clutching his wrist close.

"Do you want to get us all killed?" she demanded, shaking the boy slightly. "Because Numbuh Five thinks that's what's gonna happen if you don't shut your mouth." Dropping the boy, Numbuh Five whirled on the girls in her party. "You and you," she said, pointing to each in turn, "stop fighting with him. And you," she added, turning to point at the boy crouched over the radio. A looked up from his work, raising an eyebrow when he noticed his commander pointing at him.

"Yeah?" he asked slowly, wondering what he'd missed.

"….What are you doing?" Numbuh Five asked.

"I'm trying to increase the range of this transmitter," he said, motioning to the object in question. He had one of the panels pried off, a tangle of wires spilled out before him. Numbuh Five nodded, satisfied that at least one of her team was doing something productive.

"What's your name?" she asked him. The boy pointed to the plastic button pinned to his sleeve.

"Iggy," he said, rattling off the name he displayed. Numbuh Five pointed to the half disemboweled transmitter he carried.

"Can you work on that while we're moving?" she asked him. Iggy smirked up at her.

"Sure can."

"Good, because you're gonna to have to. Team!" she barked, once more addressing the group at large.

"What?" Zigzag huffed. Numbuh Five threw him a dirty look, but otherwise ignored him.

"Gather up all your weapons and supplies. If you don't need it, don't bring it. We're moving." This announcement earned a sigh from Zigzag, and an unsure look from Angel, but Grey and Iggy simply gathered their things quietly and stood, prepared to move.

This mission was as much for reconnaissance as it was these recruits' first field test, and Numbuh Five had been reminded before she left that she would be expected to report on which of the young operatives she thought were ready for combat and which she thought needed a little more training. Already she knew which of her numbers where getting the rave reviews, and who she would be recommending be sent all the way back to basic.

"We ready?" she asked, after enough time had passed for everyone to get themselves organized. She allowed herself the silent observation that her usual team would have been ready in less than half the time these kids were taking.

"Ready," Angel announced, echoed by Iggy. Grey nodded her agreement. Zigzag simply huffed.

"Good," Numbuh Five said. Shifting her weapon, Numbuh Five did a quick visual check of her team, making sure they had all of their equipment properly secured. Satisfied by what she saw—at least they'd learned _something_ in training—she turned to face the direction they'd originally flown from. With a wave of her hand she started forward. "Let's move."

* * *

Mandy scowled down at the report she was reading, one of Juniper's backlog, doing her best to ignore the person currently standing beside her, ranting angrily about a late shipment of…something. Mandy hadn't even listened long enough to learn why it was the war's chief scientist was standing in the middle of their make-shift war room, shouting and griping.

"—and if I don't have them here within the week, something Double D is aware of I'm sure, I won't be able to begin mass production of the new laser cannons, and without them we—are you even listening to what I am saying?"

"No, Dexter, I'm not," Mandy replied honestly. "I'm trying to tune you out so that I can continue working because, if you hadn't noticed, I'm a little busier than usual. I had hoped that with your vast IQ, you would have noticed and left on your own." Glancing up from her paperwork, Mandy was pleased to see that her response had, at least momentarily, left the red headed scientist speechless. As it were, he was now simply gaping at her, one purple gloved finger pointed at her as he struggled to come up with something to say.

"But—" he started, only for Mandy to quickly cut him off.

"But nothing, Dexter," she told him. "In case you haven't noticed, and with how little you leave that lab of yours I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't, we're in the middle of a war. Supply convoys are a target of the enemy, and have a habit of being delayed in their arrival because of it. Not only that, but I'm not the person you need to be talking to anyway. That person is busy personally escorting you shipment, something you don't seem to be very grateful for. Don't interrupt," she said quickly, as Dexter opened his mouth to do just that, "I'm not finished. As I was saying, war causes unexpected delays in supply shipments. It is your job to accept that, and learn to work around it."

"Are you finished?" Dexter asked, scowling at the girl sitting across from him. Mandy frowned right back.

"Yes."

"First of all," Dexter said, using her affirmation as the launching pad for his rebuttal, "I am very aware of the war, and would prefer you not talk to me as if I am not. I am, after all, helping produce the weapons that are intended to stop it. Second of all, I understand that delays happen. But when the delay involves the kind of highly sensitive proto-core components I require, it is rather difficult for me to simply, as you put it, 'work around it'." Dexter made air quotes as he said the last bit, his expression disgruntled. For a long moment Mandy stared at Dexter, her expression calculating as she slowly leaned her elbows against the table, resting her chin on folded hands.

Across the large table Gwen and Numbuh One looked up from the maps spread out before them, Gwen's sentence about access routes trailing off as she picked up on the subtle shift in the room. Noticing Mandy's collected expression and Dexter's frustrated one, she sighed.

"This'll be good," she muttered. This wasn't the first time commanders had butted heads, but it was the first time Dexter and Mandy, the loudest and the most scathing of the leaders, respectfully, had verbally sparred . Numbuh One nodded his agreement as they turned back to their maps, each with an ear now attuned to the feuding pair. Mandy ignored their attentions, still sizing up the boy before her.

"You're right, Dexter," she said finally, surprising the young scientist.

"I…I am?" he asked, thrown by the sudden agreement. Mandy nodded.

"You are," she told him. "It really is ridiculous that you have to wait to receive your parts. What do you suggest I do about it?" Dexter blinked, confused by her last question.

"Uh, what?" he asked.

"Well, seeing that you've stormed in here to complain about the delays, it clearly means you've come up with some sort of way to remedy them," Mandy explained patiently. "Otherwise, why would you come here at all? Certainly not only to waste both our time and complain uselessly." Although her tone spoke of understanding, Dexter realized that Mandy had, very cunningly, verbally backed him against a wall, and that hidden behind that placating tone was a cold and unforgiving anger at being harassed.

"I, uh," Dexter fumbled, for he had not, in fact, come up with any way to fix the problem he had come to complain about. He was used to griping at his scientific underlings and then having them scramble to fix the problem for him while Juniper, used to his complaints, was adept at ignoring him. It had never occurred to his vast intellect that Mandy wouldn't be quite so accommodating. "You should provide the supply trucks with more protection," he offered weakly.

"I see," Mandy said slowly. "So you believe that Juniper Lee, director of the entire war effort's suppl transportation, and a dozen highly trained operatives, K.N.D. among them, are not enough of a protective force for your supplies?"

"Uh, that's not quite what I—"

"You believe," Mandy continued, cutting the boy off, "that sending out twelve well trained and combat ready field operatives, of which we have few too many, and one of our commanders, of which we also have few too many, is not enough manpower to put into such a task? Maybe I should pull Grim or Buttercup back from the field, where they are reclaiming territory from the Fusion and protecting key sources of much needed supplies, and put them on guard duty for you as well, shall I?"

"Er," Dexter muttered, looking away from his fellow war leader. "No." Mandy glowered darkly at the scientist.

"That's what I thought," she told him. "Now if I were you, I would get back down to your lab and—" before Mandy could finish her sentence with something rude and most likely painful, the radio on the table hissed with static. Scowling at Dexter with a look that said 'don't go anywhere, I'm not done with you,' Mandy snatched up the device. "What?" she barked.

"_Juniper Lee reporting from the loading bay,"_ announced the army's Te-xuan-ze. _"All supplies safe and accounted for."_

"Good," Mandy said, still staring at Dexter, who was struggling to not look ecstatic. "Your paperwork will be waiting for you when you get upstairs."

"_Yes Ma'am," _Juniper said, her tone suggesting a playful salute. _"Over and out."_

"Well?" Mandy said expectantly, frowning at Dexter. He looked at her in confusion.

"Well, what?" he asked. Mandy rolled her eyes.

"What are you still doing in the command center?" she snapped. "You heard the woman. You have your supplies, go get to work!" With a final imperial glare, if only to save face, Dexter spun on his heel and, with a billowing sweep of his lab coat, marched out of the room. Mandy shook her head as the command center's door swung back shut. The boy was a genius, sure, but not for the first time those assembled wondered if all of the space in his brain was so taken up with robotic brilliance that he'd run out of room for any other thought processes.

Shaking her head lightly, Mandy returned her attention to the reports in front of her, obviously pleased to be gathering up Juniper's work load to be handed back to its rightful owner. She didn't fail to notice Gwen and Numbuh One exchanging badly hidden grins as they too refocused on their work.

For five minutes the room had peace once more as she Mandy returned to her own duties. Across the table Numbuh One continued to poor over his maps, while Gwen idly picked though a report about a routine patrol conducted by a group of Bean Scouts and imaginary friends.

And then the door slammed back open, earning un-amused looks from all assembled. They frowned at the open door, confused when there was no one for them to direct their annoyance at. Then an excited yapping sound directed her gaze downward.

"Hello, Courage," Gwen greeted, staring at the little pink dog as it jumped about, waving its arms around excitedly in the direction of Blossom's empty chair. Courage paused in his actions when he realized Blossom herself was nowhere to be found. "Blossom is out leading a mission," Gwen said, getting the little dog's attention. "I'm in charge of her paperwork while she's gone." That was good enough for Courage, who scrambled up onto the table, depositing a note atop Gwen's half read report.

"Do you need a response?" Gwen asked. Courage nodded vigorously, motioning to the message. Looking down at the piece of paper, Gwen unfolded it to read the message within. It was from the flight control room, where a squadron of mixed soldiers, Dexlabs techs, and KND monitored the twenty-four hour operation of all airships being used by Earth's army. Eyes narrowed, Gwen read over the message twice while two pairs of eyes watched her closely from round the table.

"That's not good," she murmured, setting the note down. It explained that the alarm signaling a hull breach on one of the ships currently in use by a reconnaissance team had gone off. When one of the radio controllers tried to contact the ship, they received a brief, terrified affirmation that the ship was under enemy fire moments before radio contact was lost. She didn't need to check her reports to match the flight number to a ship—she's only sent them out this morning, aftera ll.

"Of all the teams," she muttered. Gwen had purposely sent Numbuh Five and her team to an area that was reported as low activity due to the team's insufficient level of combat experience. It just figured that it would be them who stumbled across hidden enemy activity. Gwen sighed. She was going to have to send in a rescue team with more experience than she would have usually preferred, so as to balance things out.

"Courage," she said, getting the dog's attention as she quickly tore herself two pieces of scrap paper from her open report. Scribbling down her orders, she handed both papers over to her furry messenger. "I want you to take the first message to Juniper Lee. She just arrived, so check the infirmary and the cafeteria. Give the second message to Mac; he should be sitting in the reception area, waiting for something to do. I want him to gather any members of the Kids Next Door's Sector V team that are off duty and send them to me. Do you understand?"

The pink dog nodded enthusiastically, yapping his understanding as he leapt down and hurried back out of the room. Beside her a chair clattered to one side as Numbuh One jumped up. Gwen sighed, catching Mandy's narrowed gaze before turning to Numbuh One.

"The airship carrying Numbuh Five and her team was shot down. I'll brief you and the team on their new mission once everyone arrives." Nigel Uno sunk slowly back into his chair. The leader in him kept him from any emotional outburst, but even he couldn't remain stoic in the face of such news, the furrows creasing his brow giving away his anxiety. Gwen rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. The expressions on all those gathered echoed with the same thought.

This was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

**A**nd the fourth chapter arrives! This one is kind of short as it's just building up some plot stuff and moving people around, but I liked the bits of character interaction that we get to see in it :) I would like to say a huge thanks to Man of Cartoons for all of you wonderful reviews and kind words, and that I hope you (and anyone else reading) enjoys the chapter!

* * *

_Time Until the End of the Earth: 4 Days, 19 Hours, 42 minutes_

* * *

The soldier, who looked to be about ten and was still clutching his weapon tightly, was practically giddy with excitement as he regaled the less then enthused doctor with the whole long tale of how their supply convoy had been viciously attacked by a horde of Fusion monsters, and how he had been the one to single handedly defeat them all and save everyone. The doctor simply nodded and hummed thoughtfully in the right places, hoping that doing so would get the boy through his story faster and get him to stop flailing about. After all, it was rather tricky to wrap an injured arm when the arm kept sweeping around to demonstrate a Fusion monster's size or aim a weapon at unsuspecting infirmary walls.

Sitting in a small, padded chair, Juniper Lee watched the frazzled doctor and excited soldier in amusement. While he wasn't quite as daring and day saving as he claimed, Blaze FireSomething had proven to be quite the decent fighter when they'd been attacked. He'd also managed to sustain the worst of the injuries among her team. Luckily, the burn was relatively small, and had ended up being the only wound graver than a small cut or bruise.

"You know, you don't have to wait," a nurse, no older than Juniper, said as she walked by. "You've already been checked out."

"I know," Juniper said, shrugging. The nurse waited, looking at her expectantly, but Juniper didn't elaborate and eventually the nurse walked away. Juniper didn't really feel like explaining to the nurse that she wanted to make sure the rest of her team checked out okay, or that she was taking advantage of the excuse to get a few minutes of rest. The convoy escort had been a long, thirteen day mission, and despite being sore and exhausted, Juniper knew that as soon as she set foot in the halls she was at risk of being swooped down upon and assigned to another mission—or worse, having her desk job handed back to her. Not because her fellow commanders didn't think rest was important, of course, but because theirs was an army incredibly short staffed when it came to the number of commanders versus number of tasks needed accomplishing. It meant that anyone of high rank, at any time, was liable to be assigned off.

Luckily for all of those who fell into that category, the infirmary had become a safe zone, a sort of limbo in between being out on a mission and being assigned to the next one. As long as you were within its walls, you had a moment's reprieve from the chaos going on all around.

"You're done," the doctor announced, regaining Juniper's attention. She looked up in time to see Blaze leap down from the exam table, eyeing his bandaged arm as if it were a medal of honor. "You need to come back tomorrow to have the bandage changed," the doctor shouted after the boy as he darted for the door, most likely headed for the cafeteria. The soldier shouted a quick 'kay!' over his shoulder before vanishing from sight.

Once he was gone, the doctor shook his head, scribbling a few notes into the folder in his hand before turning to glance over at Juniper.

"You can't stay in here forever, you know," he said. Not that others before her hadn't tried.

"I know," Juniper sighed. She stretched her legs, pulling a face at muscles that were already starting to go stiff. "Don't you think you could maybe say I broke a leg or something?" she asked, "Something to get me off duty for a while?" The doctor snorted at the suggestion.

"If I did that, then within the week someone would be down my throat, wanting to know why all of the war's best fighters had _all _mysteriously broken their legs." Juniper laughed.

"This is true," she agreed. She yawned widely, stretching and then climbing to her feet.

"Heading to the cafeteria?" the doctor asked. Juniper nodded, rubbing at a stomach that was distressingly empty. "Good. Then you should go back to your quarters and get some rest." Juniper rolled her eyes at the doctor.

"Yeah, I know," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "What else do you think I'm going to go do?" The doctor gave her a flat look.

"Knowing you hero types and your save the world complexes, you'll be back out in the field as soon as you've finished lunch." Juniper rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Yeah right," she said as she headed for the door. "I'm not that crazy." The doctor just nodded, a look that said 'yeah, sure' on his face as he walked away. Juniper grinned as she headed out into the hallway, knowing she was going to prove the doctor wrong as she turned, pointing herself in the direction of the cafeteria. She was going to go have—she checked her watch—an early lunch, and then she was off to bed.

Juniper made it two steps before excited barking caught her attention. Turning on her heal to look back, she spotted a small pink dog hurrying her way, waving a piece of paper excitedly. Recognizing the messenger dog, Juniper let loose a mental sigh, silently praying that Courage was just heading past, off to go find someone in the cafeteria.

It was not to be.

"For me?" Juniper asked, still hoping that maybe Courage was mistaken as he bounced around at her feet. Courage nodded, thrusting the paper towards her. "You sure?" she checked. Courage gave her an annoyed look, pushing the paper towards her hand. "Okay, okay," she said, taking the message. As soon as she did, Courage darted back the way he'd come. Juniper sighed and glanced down at the message.

_Juniper, come to the command center as soon as you get this message._

It wasn't signed with Gwen's name. As the girl was currently in charge of two divisions that both handled troop assignments there was little guessing as to what the note entailed.

"Great," Juniper grumbled, stuffing the note into her pocket. So much for lunch. Changing her direction, Juniper made her way to command, wondering what could be wanted of her now, and knowing sadly that it wasn't going to be to offer her a few days vacation.

* * *

_Thump. Thump. Thwack._

"Yeah, take that, and that!" Numbuh Four said as he bounced back and forth, punctuating each 'that' with a punch. The punching bag he was attacking swung wildly with each hit, and he jumped around to intercept each swing with another hit.

"Isn't someone supposed to be holding the punching bag?" someone asked, causing Numbuh Four to jump. With an exclamation of surprise, he whirled around, fists raised, to find himself facing one of the army's messengers. The younger boy looked entirely unfazed by Numbuh Four's stance. Holding out the paper in his hand, he said, "You're needed in the command center."

"The command center?" Numbuh Four asked while reaching out with one hand to steady the still swinging punching bag. Mac nodded. "Why?"

"I don't know," Mac said, shrugging as he glanced at his note. "It just says I'm supposed to find anyone from your team who's here and send them up."

"Oh yeah?" Numbuh Four said, taking the note and looking it over. Mac nodded, while gazing up at the boy admiringly. Noticing the look, Numbuh Four straightened a little, trying to deepen his voice a little as he spoke next. "Well, Numbuh Five is on a mission, and Numbuh Two is in command of the flight control room, but Numbuh Three is here. I'll go get her for ya."

"Cool, thanks!" Mac said, grinning. "I'll let Gwen know you're coming." With that, he turned and hurried off, intent on his new task. Once he was gone, Numbuh Four looked back down at the note still in his hands. It didn't give away anything of what Gwen wanted the KND operatives for.

"Gwen?" Numbuh Four muttered, glancing back down at the note in his hand. Like Juniper, he was well aware of Gwen's responsibilities, narrowing down the possibilities. Pocketing the note, Numbuh Four shrugged. Whatever it was, he was sure it couldn't be_ that_ bad.

* * *

Juniper Lee marched through the small reception room, a kind of waiting space for the headquarters' messengers, waving cheerily to Mac as she passed, and pushed open the command center's doors with no request for permission, simply a single knock to alert that she was coming. While most would be much too terrified to even consider attempting something so brash, Juniper knew that, as a member of the army's top soldiers, she was given a little more leeway concerning her behavior around the army's commanding officers. Actions that might have earned someone of lesser rank a mission assignment to "patrol" the city's sewers instead resulted only in quick glances, a few half hearted waves, and, occasionally, an annoyed look.

Such as the look Mandy was currently fixing Juniper with. Juniper, for her part, was little effected by the shorter girl's glare, returning it with a broad grin as she dropped into one of the chairs around the table. After all, under the annoyed look was one of clear relief as Mandy nudged a pile of folders towards Juniper.

"Uh, thanks," Juniper said, frowning at the reports before turning to Gwen. "You wanted to see me?" she asked, while positioning herself in a way that best showed off her ragged clothes and the bruise on her cheek. Not that she honestly expected such a play for sympathy to get her anywhere, but it was always worth the try.

"I did," Gwen responded, taking in Juniper's appearance with a sympathetic but otherwise unrelenting look. "I heard your last mission was successful."

"Of course," Juniper said, lounging back in her chair. "But something tells me you didn't call me up here to talk about that."

"You're right," Gwen said, folding her arms across the table. "I have a new assignment for you." She ignored the face Juniper pulled.

"What kind of assignment?" she asked.

"I'll explain when the others get here. I think it's better that you hear it all at once." Juniper watched Gwen expectantly, waiting for the girl to elaborate. She didn't, however, and silence descended over the pair as Gwen returned her attention to the form she was filling out, leaving Juniper to rock her chair and wonder who she would be working with next. It was about that moment when she noticed Nigel sitting just off to the side. She smiled, waving in his direction. Numbuh One managed a tense, half smile before returning his pensive stare to the map spread out before him. Frowning, Juniper let her chair fall back onto four legs. Whatever she'd been called in for, she was realizing it was a lot bigger than she'd anticipated it to be. This point was only made the more clear when, a few minutes later, Numbuh Three danced into the office, Numbuh four following in her wake.

"Reporting for duty!" Numbuh Three announced, snapping into a salute in the middle of the command center. Juniper smiled at the girl's antics, which garnered a brief glance from Mandy and a welcoming nod from Gwen. Numbuh Four stepped around his teammate, who remained in her pose, and dropped into the chair beside Juniper. The KND operative glanced at Juniper, his look questioning, but she could only shrug in return. She knew no more than he did at the moment.

Gwen didn't address the group right away, continuing to fill out the form before her. When she finished, she read over what she'd written once, and then signed the paper with a neat flourish. Setting down her pen, Gwen sighed softly, finally meeting her fellow commanders' gazes.

"I have a mission for you," she said, meeting each of her soldier's gazes as she spoke. "I know some of you have only just returned from out in the field," she glanced at Juniper, "but I wouldn't have called you here if I thought someone else could do this." That had everyone straightening a little, even Numbuh Three, who had finally dropped her salute.

"What kind of mission is this, exactly?" Juniper asked, leaning forward in her seat. While Gwen was technically in charge of missions centering on major battlefield operations, the forces she had currently gathered at the table—commanders of combat, medical, and special operations teams—suggested another type of mission.

"Search and rescue," Gwen told her, affirming Juniper's suspicions. "One of our reconnaissance ships was recently shot down by an enemy that, according to our reports, doesn't exist. Not in that region, anyway. I want you three to find the missing team."

"Who exactly are we looking for?" Numbuh Four asked, having also noticed the unusual command power of his new team. Gwen's expression grew heavy, but it was Numbuh One who answered.

"Numbuh Five and her team," he said, directing attention to his end of the table. A small gasp escaped Numbuh Three as she covered her mouth. Numbuh Four sat up straight, every muscle tense. Hands clasped behind his back, Numbuh One carefully ignored their reactions as he continued. "She's only got recruits with her. She was supposed to be conducting their first field test."

"A field test in enemy territory?" Numbuh Four demanded.

"We didn't know there was anyone in that jungle—fusion or otherwise," Gwen quickly said. "Like I said, all reports indicated neutral territory. Since this attack has confirmed otherwise, we're sending in only the most highly trained until we can get a better idea of the situation we're up against."

"Do we have any idea where this nonexistent enemy is?" Numbuh Four asked.

"Within mostly unexplored jungle. Its exact location isn't known." Numbuh Four stared at Gwen.

"Do we know _anything_ about this place?" he asked. Gwen's expression was apologetic as she responded.

"No."

"So, we're going in blind?" Numbuh Three asked. Gwen nodded.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to." Gwen spun the paper on her desk around with one hand, and pushed it forward. "You have twenty minutes to gather the equipment you'll need and then report to hanger four. There will be a ship waiting for you, along with a more detailed description of your mission, including Numbuh Five's last known location." Leaning to the side so she could see out the open command center door, Gwen motioned to the boy waiting just outside.

"Take that to hanger four," she said, handing Mac the form she'd just filled out "Make sure they know this is now their top priority." Mac nodded, taking the paper and hurrying from the room. Gwen watched him go, and then turned back to her team. "I know this is a dangerous mission, but I wouldn't send you if I didn't think you weren't all more than capable of it. Don't worry about going after Fuse or trying to capture any territory. This is search and rescue only. Find Numbuh Five and her team and come home safe." Judging by the determined looks she was receiving, Gwen felt confident she's picked the right people for the job. "Hurry. Time is of the essence right now."

Knowing that they were dismissed, the trio rose and started for the doors. They were stopped short when Numbuh One stood, calling to his teammates.

"Kuki, Wally," he said, causing them to turn back around. He glanced down for a moment before meeting both of their gazes. "Be safe." His teammates smiled in response—one a grin, the other a smirk.

"We'll be fine," Numbuh Four boldly assured him before he followed the girls out the door. Numbuh One sighed when he was gone, dropping back into his seat.

"You'd better be."


	5. Chapter 5

**T**he action rises! In this chapter the mystery of the hidden enemy in the jungle deepens and the rescue team begins the race to find Numbuh Five and her recruits before it's too late? Thanks again to Man of cartoons and Ben10 Madness for their supportive, wonderful reviews! Enjoy~!

* * *

_Time Until the End of the Earth: 4 Days, 19 Hours, 33 minutes_

* * *

Numbuh Five had already decided that insubordination was top among the problems plaguing her young trainees. Their inability to travel in formation, however, was certainly proving a very close second.

"Angel," she said evenly. A small sound of surprise escaped the smaller girl.

"Y-yes, Ma'am?" she asked. Numbuh Five's response was to come to an abrupt halt, Angel bumping into her not a moment later.

"Three feet, soldier," she said, glancing over her shoulder. Angel nodded fervently as she scrabbled to regain her grip on her oversized weapon. Numbuh Five did her best not to sigh as she turned back around—

Until she caught sight of Zigzag, the boy trailing at the back of the formation, where he was _supposed _to be keeping an eye on his team's six.

Not the screen of this stupid little video game.

"Zigzag!" she barked. The boy jumped, fumbling his game as he looked around wildly.

"I'm ready, I'm ready," he shouted, trying to grab one of his grenades with the same hand still holding his video game.

"Clearly," Numbuh Five drawled. "The only one here who should be paying any attention to something that runs on batteries is Iggy." She motioned to the aforementioned boy as she spoke.

He didn't even glance up from his tinkering.

Numbuh Five scowled.

"Okay, okay," she said, letting her head fall into her hands. "This ain't working." Sighing, she reexamined the crew she had before her—Angel, who was holding her gun more like an item of comfort than a weapon, Iggy, who was _still _tinkering, Zigzag, who was eyeing his game, and Grey, who it seemed was ignoring the whole exchange in favor of strumming on her guitar.

"Slim pickin's," she observed dryly.

"What?" Angel asked. Numbuh Five shook her head in dismissal.

"New plan," she then announced. "We reorganizing."

This earned an exasperated sigh from Zigzag.

"Seriously?" he asked. "You took like, an hour getting us organized the first time."

"And if I have to, I'll take another hour now," Numbuh Five said. "Grey, you take point." Grey looked surprised by the decision, which she didn't realize was based mostly on the fact that, of the trainees to pick from, she seemed to have the longest attention span (not that the competition was exactly fierce). "Angel, you're staying put and helping navigate." Without pausing long enough to allow Angel time to freak out about her new responsibility, she continued with, "Iggy, I want you in the middle. Keep working on…whatever you're doing."

"Aye, aye, captain," Iggy muttered, the first sign that he was paying any attention to what was going on around him. Numbuh Five quirked an eyebrow, and then simply shrugged.

"Zigzag, you're bringin' up the rear with me, and if you don't put that video game away Numbuh Five's going to blast it into a million pieces, staring with your thumbs."

Zigzag's head shot up at that and, scowling darkly, he stuffed the game back into one of his pack's side pockets.

Shaking her head, Numbuh Five took up her new position, waiting not-so-patiently as her team shuffled about in a less brisk attempt to follow suit. Once everyone was arranged (again, Numbuh Five noted, not at the kinds of speeds she expected) Numbuh Five gave the signal for their new formation to move out. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most effective positioning in relation to their various skills, but at least it meant Numbuh Five could keep her team a little more under control and focused.

And, as time passed, Numbuh Five found it wasn't exactly solving all their problems.

"Eyes forward, Angel," Numbuh Five commanded as the girl glanced back over her shoulder for what had to be the fiftieth time.

"Y-yes sir, er, ma'am," the girl said, her head whipping back around. Numbuh Five shook her head lightly. She would have thought the stutter was a speech impediment, if not for the fact it only seemed to emerge when the girl was forced to address her commanding officer.

"This is so stupid," Zigzag muttered to Iggy, who glanced back at the boy with only half hearted interest. "I mean, really, what's going to attack us out here? The trees?"

"Maybe," Grey said, frowning over her shoulder. "Or maybe the people who shot us out of the sky."

"It's a possibility," Iggy agreed, moving away from Zigzag. The boy deflated a little, scowling at his teammates' backs. Numbuh Five, while pleased that her subordinates weren't putting up with their comrade's behavior, frowned at the strife beginning to form amongst her team. There was little that put a team at as much risk as soldiers who couldn't work together.

Luckily, the group fell back into silence after that, allowing for some peace and quiet as they continued onward. Numbuh Five saw this as a good chance to test her fledgling team's navigation skills, and left Angel and Grey in charge of directing the group. The girls did everything very by-the-book, which was to be expected—Numbuh Five knew that creativity would come with more experience.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

Numbuh Five sighed. So much for peace and quiet.

"Yes, we're sure," Grey said, scowling over her shoulder. Zigzag pulled a face at her, and Grey rolled her eyes back.

"You're annoying," he said. In response, Grey stood straighter, revealing the few inches of height she had over the boy.

"And so are you," she said. "If you haven't noticed, you're the one doing all the complaining." Zigzag sputtered indignantly, glaring at the girl but seemingly unable to formulate some sort of response. Numbuh Five ignored them both, tired of berating them for all of their bickering. Shaking her head, she turned her attention out to the jungle surrounding them.

Which was why she noticed the flash of silver and the bushes parting, giving her just enough time to shout a warning to her team before something massive, robotic, and not on their side crashed through the foliage and charged the group.

"Everyone, get down!" Numbuh Five cried as she threw herself to the ground, Null Void gun raised and aimed before she'd even landed. The gun fired with a bright flash of light, emitting a large ball of energy that slammed into the monster's front leg, obliterating it in an explosion of metal and fusion matter. Bellowing in pain, the monster crumpled forward, falling to its one remaining knee. Acrid black smoke billowed up from the damaged beast, making Numbuh Five's eyes water. Squinting, she struggled to get a good look at the creature. Long, shining horns and an array of satellite dishes identified the Triceraclaw for what it was.

"What is that thing?" Grey demanded, pulling Numbuh Five's attention back to the kids crouched on the ground around her.

"It's one of Fuse's monsters," she shouted back. "Fuse uses them like giant walking radio transmitters."

"Does that mean he knows we're here?" Angel asked, her eyes going wide. Numbuh Five frowned.

"If he didn't, he does now. We gotta destroy that thing then get out of here, fast."

"Leave it to me," Zigzag said, already grabbing one of the grenades hanging around his shoulders. He eyed his right hand for a moment, the one he'd injured in the crash, and then, with a shrug, pulled back his left arm for the toss.

"Zigzag, wait!" Numbuh Five shouted. The monster he was aiming for wasn't that far away—if he threw the grenade now, it would land practically on top of his team; there would be no way they could avoid the blast completely.

Zigzag ignored her, winding up and hurling the grenade with a shout.

"Everyone, get down!" Numbuh Five roared, turning and flinging herself at the closest member of her team—who happened to be Angel—and shoving her flat against the ground. She hoped briefly that the rest of her team had heard her, but the thought was derailed by the grenade's explosion.

With a sound like a sonic boom, the entire area exploded with a flash of light so bright that it blinded Numbuh Five even through her closed eyelids. It was followed a moment later by a wave of super heated air that washed over the group, burning against any exposed skin. It was akin to being in a wind tunnel, the wind roaring loudly as it pulled fiercely at the children, tearing at their clothes and whipping their hair about wildly. All around, the shattered remained of the monster rained down around the group, who could only cover themselves with their hands and hope nothing too big or sharp hit them.

Everyone remained lying still once the chaos had passed, stunned into inaction by the suddenness of it all. It wasn't until someone groaned, the sound soft and pain laced, that Numbuh Five was able to shake off her surprise. Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, she looked down at the younger girl pinned beneath her.

"You okay?" she asked. Angel was thoroughly windswept, and her eyes were wide as saucers in her face, but she nodded mutely. "Good," Numbuh Five said, before rolling off of the girl. Sitting up on her haunches, she quickly surveyed the rest of her team. Zigzag was sitting a few feet away, propped up on his elbows and staring at the heap of scorched metal that had once been a Triceraclaw. He was bleeding from a few shallow cuts, but otherwise looked fine.

"Numbuh Five!" Grey shouted, redirecting her commander's attention. The blonde was crouched down beside Iggy, who was sprawled on his back, unmoving. Muttering a few of the more vulgar curses she'd picked up from some of the older fighters, Numbuh Five pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled the first few steps until she regained her equilibrium, and then she jogged over to her teammates.

"What happened?" she barked as she dropped to her knees on Iggy's side, across from Grey.

"He was hit by a piece of the, the…whatever it was that attacked us," Grey explained shakily. The girl's cheeks and forehead were red, burned by the grenade's blast, but she looked otherwise unharmed as she stared down at her injured teammate.

"Iggy," Numbuh Five called, leaning over the fallen recruit. "Iggy, can you hear me?" Dark eyes gazed back at her, glazed and uncomprehending, as blood oozed from a wound on the side of the young operative's head. Rummaging through her pack for a first aid kit, Numbuh Five bit her lip, glancing over at the Triceraclaw's smoldering remains as she considered her options. "Grey," she said, glancing up at the blonde girl. "Do you know what happened to the radio Iggy was working on?"

"Uhh," Grey glanced about, trying to spot it among the wreckage. "There!" she shouted when she finally caught sight of it, half hidden beneath half a satellite dish. Jumping up, she retrieved it and brought it back to her commander. "Is it damaged?" she asked worriedly, unable to judge the condition of the tech for herself. Numbuh Five held out a medical kit to the girl, trading her for the radio.

"I don't think so," Numbuh Five said, pushing a button on the radio's side while Grey worked on bandaging Iggy's head. A small red light blinked on, and Numbuh Five began playing with one of the radio's dials. Various levels of static poured from the speakers as she moved through the channels before eventually settling on seven, the channel set aside for universal communications. "Looks like we're just still out of range." She glanced back down at Iggy, whose eyes were slowly drifting shut. "He's not going to be of any use, so it looks like we won't be getting an extended receiving range."

"What does that mean?" Angel asked, coming over to join the group. Numbuh Five sighed.

"Means we'll just have to walk further, no thanks to a certain someone," she added, glancing back at Zigzag.

"Hey!" Zigzag shouted, from where he was still sitting on the ground. "I was protecting my team!"

"By making them collateral damage?" Numbuh Five asked. "I don't know how they're training you at the Academy, but when Numbuh Five was a trainee, she was taught that you don't just blow up everything around you and hope the enemy gets caught in the blast."

"That's not what I—"

"Save it," Numbuh Five snapped. "This training mission just got as real as it gets, and if any of you have plans of getting out of here alive, Numbuh Five suggests you stop acting like trainees and start acting like soldiers." Numbuh Five took in her team's varying expressions, all differing mixtures of determined, petrified, and pissed. At least mildly satisfied by what she saw, she continued, "Now, first things first—we gotta get that communicator somewhere where it'll actually communicate."

"By continuing in the direction we were going originally," Grey said. Numbuh Five nodded.

"It would be quicker to send two people with the communicator, and leave the other two with Iggy, but considering your combined lack of skill, I'm thinking that would be a bad idea."

"So what do we do instead?" Zigzag asked, scowling. Numbuh Five briefly considered throwing something at him.

"We keep going, traveling together and bring Iggy with us. It'll slow us down, more than we already have been," she fixed Zigzag with a pointed look, "but we don't have any other choice."

"Why don't we leave him here?" Zigzag asked. He was not at all prepared for the dark look Numbuh Five fixed him with, yet her voice was controlled when she answered.

"It's Lord Fuse's mission to kill your teammates. Not yours."

A long silence followed Numbuh Five's words. Angel and Grey glanced at one another, surprised by the vehemence in their usually calm and cool leader. Zigzag looked like he wanted so badly for something snide and witty to say, anything to save face in front of his team. One look from Numbuh Five told him that attempting such a feat would not end well for him.

"Zigzag, help Grey carry Iggy. Angel, you're going to have to bring up our rear, while I take point. Can you do that?" Angel nodded in a way that didn't quite seem to say yes as she picked up her disproportionate weapon and hefted it onto her shoulder.

Nodding to herself, Numbuh Five stood, drawing her own weapon. "Good," she nodded, as she turned to examine her entire team one more time. "Come on," she said. "Let's move out."

* * *

The engines of the small, sleek Dexlabs recon ship were already roaring to life as the three man rescue team arrived in hanger four. Numbuh Two was there, a mission file in his hands, personally waiting to see them off.

"Hey Numbuh Two," Numbuh Four said, holding out a hand to accept the folder. "You heard, huh?" Numbuh Two nodded.

"The coordinates from Numbuh Five's last transmission are in there, the pilots have a copy as well," Numbuh Two fidgeted once the folder was taken from him, glancing in the direction of the ship's cockpit and the pilot preparing the ship for takeoff. It was clear to Numbuh Four that his teammate would have much preferred that he was the one behind those controls.

"They'll get us there," he assured his friend, clapping the larger boy on the shoulder. "I'll make sure of it." Numbuh Four's expression brokered no arguments, for which Numbuh Two was grateful. If he could count on anyone making sure things got done, it was Numbuh Four. However, even his teammate's assurances could do little to lessen the knot of dread in his stomach, and he could only nod distractedly as he continued to brief them on their mission.

"You're going to be air dropped into the jungle south of Dinosaur pass. It's a thirty minute flight—plenty of time to get your parachutes ready."

"Great," Juniper muttered. "We don't even get time for an in-flight movie." Numbuh Two, always a fan of alleviating tense situations with terrible jokes, smiled briefly.

"Unfortunately, no."

"I guess we'll just have to make do without." Hefting her pack more securely onto her shoulder, Juniper started towards the camper turned airship.

"Good luck guys," Numbuh Two said, waving as Numbuhs Four and Three followed suit and climbed into the transport, the latter waving over her shoulder as she went.

"We won't need it, but thanks," Numbuh Four said, all attitude and bravado masquerading as a confidence Numbuh Two knew his friend was struggling to feel. Juniper rolled her eyes at the boy's blustering anyway, Numbuh Three giggling, albeit a little nervously, as she followed the blond into the ship.

"Needed or not, it's appreciated," Juniper said, remaining by the door a moment longer. She could tell by his fidgeting that there was something more the K.N.D.'s aviation specialist wanted to tell her. He hesitated a moment and then offered a soft,

"Stay safe."

A small smile tugged at Juniper's lips, spurred by a rush of affection towards her fellow warrior.

"I'll keep an eye on them," Juniper promised. Numbuh Two surprised her by shaking his head.

"You too," he added. "All of you."

Juniper swallowed hard. Nodding once, she squared her shoulders, a grin spreading across her face as she slipped back into the role of confident commander. Turning into the airship, she shouted a quick, "See you when we get back!"

And then she climbed inside, the door that shut behind her leaving Numbuh Two alone on the tarmac to watch as the ship containing the Te Xuan Ze and two of his teammates taxied out of the hanger and to the short runway beyond. With a blast of flames, the airship's rockets roared to life as the pilots prepared for take-off. Built to get in and get out quick, it didn't take very long before the aircraft was taking off—it barely needed to go down the runway before it was lifting into the air, quickly gaining altitude. Banking south, the ship arced off to the left, leaving the airstrip in its wake.

Numbuh Two stared after it the ship, following it until it disappeared behind the massive form of the Sector V tree house. His gaze stayed on the giant tree-turned-KND-headquarters-turned-Earth's-home-b ase long after the ship was gone from view.

And then the sound of awkward throat clearing drew his attention to the boy standing a few feet away. The kid, a scrawny blonde with braces he clearly wasn't yet used to, was clutching a clipboard to his chest and staring at Numbuh Two. He started a little when he realized he was being looked at.

"Uh, Numbuh Two, sir?" he fumbled, glancing down at his clipboard in what Numbuh Two recognized was probably a nervous habit. Turning completely towards the technician, Numbuh Two struggled to remember the boy's name as he responded.

"Yes, uhh…" he flailed about mentally for a moment before going with, "Blaster?" Judging by the boy's wide eyes, Numbuh Two figured he'd guessed right.

"Uhm, we're having a problem with one of the, uh, thrusters on the new ship you and Dexter were designing, and, uh," Blaster paused, looking back down at his clipboard, and Numbuh Two thought, not for the first time, the kid would really benefit from a little calming down and thinking before he spoke. "Uh, yeah," the boy continued, still staring pointedly downwards, "We were wondering if you would mind, uh, taking a look at it?"

"Sure," Numbuh Two said, sighing as he held his hand out. It took Blaster a moment, but he soon interpreted the sign language and, with a reluctant look, handed over his clipboard. Numbuh Two perused the notes there for a moment before looking up when he noticed the boy wasn't going anywhere, but simply looking at him.

Numbuh Two raised an eyebrow.

Blaster stared back.

"Oh, uh, right," the boy said with a start, quickly gathering himself and scurrying off. Numbuh Two blinked in surprise at the sudden motion before hurrying after the boy, lest he lose sight of him among all of the other gathered ships, pilots, technicians, and soldiers milling about the airfield. He allowed himself a small sigh and a final glance back over his shoulder at the tree house, watching as it retreated into the distance.

And then they turned down a corridor, and it lost from sight.


	6. Chapter 6

**T**he mystery continues (after a long delay I'm sorry D:). People are coming together and the suspense is building! As always, a huge thank you to my reviewers (you guys are fantastic) and to those who are following this story. All the love for you. And now on to the story-constructive crit is always welcome, and please enjoy~!

* * *

Scowling, Numbuh Five shoved her way through a bunch of low hanging palm fronds, holding them aside as Zigzag followed, Iggy draped across his shoulder. The tech savvy recruit had regained a little of his senses while they traveled, now at least partially able to walk on his own. This allowed Grey to focus on keeping an eye out for any more fusion monsters, and gave Numbuh Five the freedom to spend more time consulting a map so as to keep them moving in the right direction. Iggy still didn't seem together enough to handle any technology, however, and, despite his occasional weak protest, Numbuh Five refused to allow him to touch the communicator.

Since the incident with the Triceraclaw, the team had been much quieter and, Numbuh Five was pleased to note, much more attentive to the environment around them.

So they had learned something in the Academy after all.

Although, Numbuh Five felt that it shouldn't take a fusion monster attack to actually get the recruits to _use _their training, something she planned on mentioning as soon as she was back at Sector V.

Numbuh Five's thoughts were interrupted by a startled sound from the back of their formation. The seasoned K.N.D. operative struggled to hold back a sigh, knowing the source of the sound without looking.

While glad to see her team showing a little more vigilance, Numbuh Five had soon realized that, for one of their number, more vigilant wasn't necessarily more alert to _actual _danger. As she turned her attention to the jungle, the jumpiness that Angel had previously focused on her commanding officer suddenly found a much wider world by which to be constantly startled.

"Angel," Numbuh Five whispered, at this point beyond even looking over her shoulder, "you need to learn the natural sounds of your environment. Branches falling out of old trees ain't the sign of an enemy approach."

"Y-yes, Numbuh Five," Angel mumbled. She then jumped again, head swiveling backwards and forwards, searching for the source of another unfamiliar sound.

"It's the river," Grey muttered. Angel blinked at the taller girl.

"…Oh," she breathed. She then blushed, ducking her head. _Grey knows the jungle's sounds_, she thought, a little bitterly.

"That's right," Numbuh Five said. For a moment Angel thought her commander was agreeing with her thoughts, until she realized she was simply commenting on what Grey had said. "Can you tell how far the river is from us?"

Silence followed her question, the coherent members of the team glancing at one another and shrugging vaguely. Numbuh Five didn't need to see them to know what they were doing. She grinned, shifting her grip on her weapon.

"'Bout fifty feet to our right," she said. "It's always good to know where rivers are—they're a good spot to put a base."

"So, if we're lost, we should follow the river," Angel said. "That way we'll reach a base?"

"Not necessarily," Numbuh Five said. "Enemies tend to think the same thing. Maybe not Fuse," she added, "but most. Stay close, like us, but not close enough to be seen."

"How do you know you're traveling far enough away to avoid being seen?" Zigzag asked, grunting as he shifted his teammate's weight. He then stumbled, struggling not to drop Iggy when the shorter boy lost his footing.

"Experience," Numbuh Five said, grabbing Iggy's arm and steadying him. He mumbled something that might have been a 'thanks' as he regained his unsteady feet. "But a good rule of thumb? Far enough back that you can't see the river, and then a bit more. That way the river's noise covers the sound of you fumblin' through the trees." She gave Zigzag and Iggy a pointed look. Numbuh Five was surprised to note that Zigzag actually seemed to be trying _not_ to scowl at her.

"If you're too far away to see the river," Zigzag paused, adjusting his grip on Iggy's belt, "then how do you follow it?" Numbuh Five smiled, tapping her ear.

"You listen," she said. "The girls got it figured out."

Frowning, Zigzag strained his ears, struggling to pick up on the sound everyone else seemed to have noticed without him. At first there was nothing, only the incessant insect calls permeating the trees. But then, after a bit of focusing, he noticed the faint gurgling sound. Narrowing his eyes as he listened harder, he guessed he could see why Numbuh Five said it was coming from the right. How she knew how far it was, however, was more than beyond him.

"Found it?" Numbuh Five asked. She was smiling at him, having seen the way his expression changed when he caught the sound. Zigzag nodded slowly. "Good. Keep an eye on it, or ear, whatever. You'll know if we're getting' closer or further away cause it'll get louder or go quiet."

"Uh-huh," Zigzag breathed, still focused on the gurgling sound. Numbuh Five rolled her eyes at him, and silence fell once more as they continued moving, her recruits now actively listening for the jungle's sounds.

It was really just dumb luck that Zigzag was so focused on the river's noise, and that they hadn't been relying on smells to alert them.

"Pst," he hissed, coming to a stop. Numbuh Five turned to him, about to tell him off for not using the proper commands for signaling a halt, when something in his expression stopped her. His gaze was unfocused, head tilted to one side. He was listening, picking up something he'd deemed important enough to bring everyone to a stop.

Not that Numbuh Five put much weight in _that_.

"What is it?" Angel started to ask, but Zigzag cut her off with a hiss, holding up his hand for silence. He frowned and then looked up, meeting his commanding officer's gaze. The usually lax boy was now taught with energy, and Numbuh Five found herself wondering at the change in the lazy kid who she'd first been assigned.

"What do you hear?" she whispered. Concentration furrowed Zigzag's brow as he struggled to make sense of the signals his more alert senses were sending him.

"I…I think it's proof that you were right," he said slowly.

"About what?" she asked.

Even as the question left her lips, Numbuh Five got the sinking feeling she knew exactly what her recruit was going to say, and it was with a shaken expression that Zigzag answered her.

"About rivers," he said, "and the fact that the enemy tends to put their bases there too."

* * *

Wind whipped against the side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., tossing Juniper's hair about her face as she peered down at the blotch of green below that she was about to parachute into.

"Are you ready to jump?" one of the pilots asked. He had to shout to be heard over the wind.

"You're kidding, right?" Juniper shouted back. The technician at the computer beside the door grinned.

"When you joined the war, didn't you think this was what you were signing up for?"

"I didn't join, I was drafted," she barked, even as she bent her knees, preparing to spring. "I don't fight aliens!"

The last word trailed after her as she dove from the ship, the technician's laughter quickly fading into the roar of the wind.

A 'Whoohoo!' and a 'Yippee!' followed after her, letting her know Numbuhs Four and Three had jumped right behind her. They soon appeared beside her, Numbuh Three with her arms and legs spread wide, laughing like crazy, and Numbuh Four completely vertical as he tried to fall even faster.

"You're nuts!" Juniper shouted, the wind whipping the words away. Numbuh Four, hearing the words over his radio, just ginned.

Juniper was the first to pull her chute, Numbuh Three right behind her, leaving both girls to roll their eyes as Numbuh Four continued to let himself tumble. At the very last minute he too popped his chute, cheering self congratulations as he drifted to the ground ahead of his female teammates.

"Numbuh Four," Juniper said, pawing the communicator around her neck, "do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," Numbuh Four responded. "What's up?"

"I don't want us trying to land in those thick trees," she said, eyeing the unbroken carpeting of green below her feet. Searching for a moment, she eventually spotted a thin strip of blue-grey cutting through the jungle. "Do you see the river down there?"She rummaged in her pocket for a moment, producing a compass. "It's just…" she trailed off, staring at the compass, "east of you."

"Uh…yeah, I see it," Numbuh Four said, his parachute angling as he turned to spot the river.

"Good. Let's land there."

"In the river?" Numbuh Four asked. His parachute skewed to one side for a moment, presumably as the boy sent an incredulous look Juniper's way.

"Just aim for a soft spot." A crackle of static indicated Numbuh Four's sarcastic snort.

Radio silence fell after that, as the three man team placed all of their focus into the task at hand. A bit of tricky maneuvering lined Juniper up with her target, which was gaining distance on her with every second. Eyeing the river, she was pleased to note that it looked, at least from the sky, fairly smooth. At least she hadn't tried to drop her team into raging rapids.

Numbuh Four was the first to splash down, his chute spreading serenely across the surface as he vanished below. Aiming herself for the center of the river, where she hoped it would be the deepest, Juniper caught one final glance of her teammate—a blonde head, sputtering and complaining as it broke the surface—and then she was crashing through the water herself.

Warm water rushed over her as she tucked her arms and legs close, sinking rapidly through the water. Her plummet ended abruptly as her chute, spread wide across the surface, was reflected by the water's tension. Juniper knew it wouldn't stay up long though, and hurriedly began kicking for the surface.

She broke the surface with a gasp, hands pawing at the buckles of her harness. She slipped free of the tangle of ropes and straps just as her parachute began to sink below the water, the river's faint current beginning to carry it away. Kicking off in the other direction, so as not to tangle in the trailing lines, Juniper made her way towards the shore. She could already see Numbuh Four waiting there, wringing out the hood of his sweatshirt, while Numbuh Three was just finishing shedding her own jump gear.

"Well, that was fun," Numbuh Four said, grinning at Juniper as she clambered ashore.

"Sure," she said, shaking her hair out. "If you say so."

"I do say so," Numbuh Four responded, crossing his dripping arms over his equally damp chest.

"Mhmm," Juniper hummed, only half paying attention to the boy as she reached out hand to Numbuh Three, helping the younger girl out of the river.

"So," Numbuh Four drawled, shrugging his pack from his shoulder and beginning to paw through its contents, "what do we do now?"

"When did I become this team's leader?" Juniper asked, frowning at the boy. He tugged a damp wad of paper from his bag that looked to have once been a map, pulling a face as he eyed what was supposed to be a waterproof seem along the bottom of his pack.

"What?" he asked, looking up suddenly. Juniper stared at him for a long moment before simply shaking her head, her question answered.

"Never mind," she said, while Numbuh Three giggled into her sleeve covered hand. "Anyway," she continued, pulling out her compass once more. She frowned at the water splattered glass, rubbing it against her jeans to try and clear it. Her frown deepened when she realized she'd only smeared the glass even more. Squinting, she was just able to make out the little letters on the compass's face.

"Numbuh Five and her team were heading south, southwest when they made last contact," she explained as she angled the compass into position. "If we head that way, we should eventually reach them, since they're probably either already heading this way or still at the crash site."

"What if we don't meet them _and_ they're not at the crash site?" Numbuh Four asked. Juniper raised an eyebrow.

"You know, you could at least _pretend_ to have a positive attitude."

"I have a great attitude," Numbuh Four reported. He paused, then added, "And you didn't answer my question." Juniper sighed.

"How about we cross that bridge when we get there," she offered. "_If _we get there."

"Works for me," Numbuh Three announced.

With an accepting shrug and nod, Numbuh Four shouldered his pack, having rummaged out the Null-Void gun he'd been searching it for. Checking to make sure it hadn't suffered the same water-logged fate as his map, he used it to point in the direction he was assuming was south, southwest. "Onward team!" he commanded, before beginning to march off into the trees.

Juniper blinked, staring after Numbuh Four's retreating back. "Is he always like this?" she asked, glancing over to Numbuh Three.

"Oh yeah," Numbuh Three nodded, and then shrugged and began following after her teammate, leaving Juniper still standing at the riverbank. Her grin seemed an odd mix of naive and all knowing as she added, "You get used to it."

"So, you're just going to blindly follow him?" Juniper asked, not so easily convinced. Numbuh Three's response was a laugh and a dismissive wave of her sleeve.

"No, silly," she said. "I wouldn't follow him if I didn't know where he was going."

Unsure if Numbuh Three's words were a profound statement of teamwork or just simple air-headedness, Juniper chose to just not over think it at all as she followed after the two KND, letting them lead the way into the dense jungle ahead.

* * *

Two sets of eyes peered out through a thick spray of giant ferns, one pair blue, the other hidden in the shadow of a red cap. Together they watched in fascinated horror a flurry of activity that, according to all reports and previous recon missions, wasn't supposed to even exist.

Rising out of the ground right along the river's edge was a low building, all metal walls and dark windows, its roof an array of dishes, antennae, and radio towers. A massive satellite dish rose from the roof's center, towering over all of the other gizmos and turning in slow, constant circles.

On the ground Triceraclaws lumbered all about, their satellite dishes constantly spinning and twisting as the robotic dinosaurs searched the air for signals. Frilled, lizard like monsters, _"Frilled Fiends,"_ Numbuh Five hissed, loitered about near the trees. Their design made them ill-suited for combined sending and receiving of messages, so they simply hung back, hissing and snapping at one another as they waited for some unsuspecting intruder to wander into their territory.

_This is seriously intense_, Zigzag thought, just as one of the Frilled Fiends standing near to their location decided to stop putting up with the smaller dinosaur currently snapping at its heels.

With an angered roar, the Fiend launched its self at the smaller fusion, tackling it to the ground. The second fusion screeched in fury, flailing wildly at its opponent. When its kicking failed to dislodge the first fusion, the Fiend lunged for its attacker's frill. Metal sheets groaned, buckling under the fusion's strong bite and ripping teeth.

And then suddenly both fusions' eyes flashed green and they screamed in pain, quickly stumbling away from one another. They crouched against the tree line, groaning and pawing at their heads in distress.

A loud shriek from above jerked both KND operatives' attentions upwards as a Pterodactyl type fusion suddenly swooped into view. Its eyes glowed the same green color that had briefly overtaken the Frilled Fiends as it banked to the side, gliding towards where the two soldiers hid.

For a brief, terrifying moment, Zigzag was convinced they'd been spotted. His next immediate thought was to run far, fast, and now. Before he could even finish collecting the thought, Numbuh Five's hand appeared on his arm, steadying him.

And with perfect timing, as the fusion simply soared on past their hiding place, seemingly ignorant of the pair's existence. It passed over the two Frilled Fiends twice before settling among the nearby treetops.

It wasn't until the flying fusion had completely finished making its self comfortable and the Frilled Fiends had shuffled off that Numbuh Five gave Zigzag's arm a light squeeze. He jumped slightly, eyes wide as he looked at his commanding officer. Her shadowed expression revealed nothing of her own thoughts on the situation as she motioned with a jerk of her head that they retreat.

It wasn't until they'd put a significant distance between the enemy base and themselves that Numbuh Five let her commander's mask drop, a shaky breath escaping her as she slumped back against a damp tree trunk.

"What—" Zigzag swallowed hard, trying to collect his thoughts, "what the heck was that?"

"Some kind of fusion base," Numbuh Five stated matter-of-factly. "Looks like a communications hub."

"I thought this jungle was supposed to be free of fusions!" Zigzag cried.

"So did I," his commander snapped back. "We're not so stupid e'd bring recruits into serious fusion territory." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "_No_ fusions are supposed to be here. A fusion base sure as _hell_ isn't supposed to be here."

"So…what do we do?" Numbuh Five raised an eyebrow.

"You got some kind of plan in case of emergency fusion base discovery?" she asked. "Because I don't."

This succeeded in tempering Zigzag's frightened annoyance, if not completely eliminating it. Silence followed Numbuh Five's words, Zigzag ruminating on what he'd seen.

The question was on his lips and out of his mouth before he'd realized he was asking it, and, for once, Abigail Lincoln was pleased to see her recruit was actually doing some real thinking.

"What happened to those fusion monsters," Zigzag blurted, "the ones that had been fighting?" Immediately he felt silly for asking—what was he expecting, that Numbuh Five was some kind of fusion monster encyclopedia—which was why he was so surprised when his commanding officer nodded appreciatively.

"A good soldier notes any weird behavior," she said. "Usually bad guys are just weird anyway, but you never know what's gonna be important. As for the fusions…" She shrugged, giving him an unsure look. "Who knows?"

While pleased by the compliment, Zigzag was slightly deflated by Numbuh Five's lack of all-knowingness. But she quickly derailed his thoughts when she suddenly straightened, commanding tone back in place as she snapped,

"All this sittin' around thinking ain't helping anyone right now. Let's get back to camp, we can be confused by whatever Lord Fuse thinks he's doing later."

Nodding, Zigzag started following Numbuh Five as she started back towards their little, make-shift camp. He allowed himself one final look back, unable to see the strange fusion base in the distance but still keenly aware of its existence.

Swallowing hard, he tugged on one of his grenade loaded sashes, unable to hold back the thought that, of all the things the Academy prepared young recruits for, _this _kind of crazy was something they somehow managed to miss.


	7. Chapter 7

**I**ncoming story~. And oh how the tensions rise! Thank you so much to Nefertirisan for your wonderful messages and Man of Cartoons and Ben10 Madness for your incredible reviews. You guys make this story that much more fun to write :D. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others~!

* * *

"Numbuh Five?" Grey whispered, turning to her commanding officer, her expression concerned.

"Don't whisper, Grey," Numbuh Five said, not looking up from her quiet discussion with Iggy, who was twiddling with the radio's antennae. "You don't want to let the enemy know you're on to them, do you?" Grey was too surprised to look sheepish. Numbuh Five smirked at her subordinate's open-mouthed expression. "Yeah, I heard 'em too."

"Heard who?" Zigzag demanded. Numbuh Five liked to think he was being so noisy because of her earlier comment to Grey, but she highly doubted it.

"You really should try and be more alert," Angel admonished. "I also heard them." Zigzag scowled at her.

"Teacher's pet," he said. The redhead blushed.

"Take that back," she snapped. Zigzag stuck his tongue out.

"Quit it," Numbuh Five said. "Last time I checked, you don't deal with intruders by calling each other names. Zigzag and Grey, go check things out. If you can, subdue the intruders and bring them back here. They might be able to tell us something about that base of Fuse's."

"Yes ma'am," Grey said, followed by Zigzag's less enthused, "Yeah, yeah."

After gathering their supplies at what Numbuh Five deemed an unacceptable pace for responding to a possible enemy attack, the pair trudged off into the forest, grumbles and a bit of name calling trailing behind them as they disappeared from sight.

"Uhm, Numbuh Five?" came Angel's tentative voice once her teammates were gone.

"Hmm?" Angel stared down at her over-sized weapon, gathering her thoughts before continuing.

"What I heard, it…it didn't sound like fusion monsters. It almost sounded like someone was…complaining?"

Numbuh Five allowed herself a small laugh, which caused Angel's expression to quickly shift from unsure to overwhelming worry.

"I mean, I know I could be wrong," she rambled quickly, "I couldn't hear it all that well, and the others were arguing over here, so it could have just been that, but…uh…" she trailed off uncertainly when she realized Numbuh Five was still laughing. She glanced over to Iggy, hoping he might understand what she'd missed, but he simply shrugged, as confused as she was.

"Oh no, you're not wrong," Numbuh Five said, waving a dismissive hand. She'd heard the "intruders" too, specifically the distinctive sound of an Australian accent as it denounced all insect life throughout the entire jungle. Numbuh Five smiled. "Girl, you're more right than you know."

* * *

_This is one of Fuse's minions?_ Grey wondered as she watched the short boy in the orange sweatshirt jump about, cursing and swatting any hapless mosquito that happened to wander within range. _He doesn't look very…threatening._

Looking to her right, Grey tried to convey with just a look her question, something she was used to watching the Academy instructors do.

'_What?' _Zigzag mouthed, scowling. Grey sighed. Clearly her silent communication skills needed a little more work.

'_What should we do now?'_ She mouthed. She frowned when Zigzag gave her an annoyed look and shrugged, still not understanding. Maybe it wasn't _her_ skills that were lacking, after all. Squinting her eyes in thought, Grey tried to recall the hand signals they'd been taught in training. She could only remember three: halt, there's a snake, and keep moving.

'_What,' _she mouthed, _'should we do about him,'_ she pointed to the boy still hopping about, _'attack'_ she finished up with a gesture at her guitar and then shrugged, using the lifting of her shoulders to signify a question mark.

Zigzag's brow furrowed, his expression half way between confusion and the suggestion of an insult as he tried to work his way through Grey's botched attempt at silent communications. His mouth dropped into a small 'oh,' causing his teammate's eyes to roll as he finally figured it out. He scowled at her, and then shrugged one shoulder—_'whatever you want to do,' _it seemed to say.

Grey held back a sigh of annoyance. _'Fine,' _she said, with a frustrated shake of her head. She pointed to herself—_'I'll do it.'_ Zigzag just shrugged again.

'_Whatever.'_

Turning away from the obnoxious boy, Grey decided she just wasn't going to communicate with the boy concerning her plans any more. This weird kid of Fuse's couldn't be all that tough, and when she single handedly took him out and brought him back for questioning it would simply prove that both she was qualified for field work and Zigzag was qualified for little beyond a second run through the Academy.

Reaching behind her to loosen the strap holding her guitar in place, Grey watched the orange clad boy carefully. She didn't want to attack recklessly—she needed to make sure his guard was completely down. A good surprise attack could give you the advantage throughout the entire fight, after all.

And there it was! The boy was spun completely around, his back to her as he leapt up and down, trying to clap a mosquito between his hands before it could fly off.

Shifting her grip on her weapon, Grey tensed, prepared to spring.

"Dang it," the boy spat, watching the bug fly away. "I almost had him, too." His hands dropped to his sides in defeat and, knowing this was the best chance she'd get, Grey pounced.

* * *

_About time. _Numbuh Four grinned as the bushes behind him rustled wildly. A moment later and a wild battle cry—a tactic that only throws the enemy off if they don't already know you're coming, Numbuh Four thought—announced the appearance of the person who'd been watching him. He allowed her (he assumed it was a her, based on her war shriek) to get close enough to think she still had the element of surprise, timing his spin until the very last minute.

The impact of her weapon sent a jolt through his arm, although Numbuh Four had to admit that the strike hadn't been all that impressive. He allowed himself a moment to take in his attacker—female, tall, blonde, dressed in a strange conglomeration of clothing that one might consider armor, and wielding a musical instrument—and quickly surmised her identity as one of the trainee soldiers traveling with Numbuh Five.

And, Numbuh Four recognized the message the girl's attack sent, courtesy of Numbuh Five.

One of his fellow KND's quirks was a tendency to introduce new soldiers to the ranks by tricking them into attacking their superior officers, a prank Numbuh Four knew first hand—it had taken Numbuh One ten minutes to be convinced by a laughing Abigail that the kid in orange wasn't working for any of their enemies and that it would be awfully polite of him to release his newest subordinate from the headlock he had him in. If she was willing to pull a trick like that now, it meant that she and her team were nearby and safe.

And, that being the case, Numbuh Four could find no reason for why he shouldn't oblige his friend in her dark sense of humor.

Unfortunately, the unsuspecting recruit before him was allowed no insight into the thought processes of the boy she had just attacked, leaving her woefully unaware of the butt kicking she was about to be handed.

She was leaning all of her weight into her weapon, a fact Numbuh Four used to his advantage. Abruptly he stopped pushing back against the force of the girl's blow. She shouted her surprise, stumbling forward without his support. Numbuh Four, already a step ahead of the surprised girl, dropped to the ground, bracing himself with his hand as he kicked out, sweeping the girl's legs out from beneath her. Rolling to the side, he neatly avoided being trapped under the girl as she toppled to the ground with another yell. Her guitar dropped from her hands and Numbuh Four, never a fan of leaving weapons lying around for your enemy to pick up again later, scooped it up as he leapt onto the blonde's back, twisting one of her arms behind her as he straddled her, effectively pinning her to the ground.

"And that," he said simply, "is how you win a fight." He then frowned as another bug buzzed past his ear. He swatted at it once, noticed the weapon still in his hand, and then gleefully used it as a makeshift fly swatter.

"Not bad, Numbuh Four."

"Thanks." Numbuh Four brushed a bit of imaginary dirt from his shoulder as Numbuh Five stepped out from bushes she'd been watching from. She shook her head fondly at her teammate's antics.

"I think you missed a spot," she said, pointing the patch of damp dirt on Numbuh Four's side, picked up when he rolled across the ground. Numbuh Four stared at the spot for a moment, as if trying to remember how he'd gotten dirty, and then shrugged.

"Adds character," he decided.

"Numbuh Four?" Grey questioned from where she was still pinned beneath the older operative. "Aren't you one of Numbuh Five's teammates?"

"Teammates?"

The irate shout came from the bushes from which Grey had previously emerged, and it was followed a moment later by a head, which was scowling in Numbuh Five's direction.

"You knew they weren't enemies?" he demanded. Numbuh Five nodded. "So why did you want us to attack them?"

"Maybe Numbuh Five wanted to test your combat abilities."

"Which suck, by the way," Numbuh Four chimed helpfully.

"Hey," Zigzag snapped, "in case you didn't notice, I'm not the one who got his butt handed to him. In fact, you guys didn't even know I was here!"

"You sure about that?"

Zigzag jumped, turning to stare at Juniper Lee, who was lounging against a nearby tree trunk. She winked, wiggling her fingers at him in greeting. Zigzag huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I could have taken her if she'd attacked me," he informed his commanding officer. She pointed over his shoulder.

"Could you have taken her as well?"

"Wha-?" Zigzag turned, blinking in surprise when he spotted the green clad girl standing right behind him. She giggled, tilting her head and smiling in greeting. Zigzag frowned. "No offense? But you don't look all that tough."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," the girl agreed, still smiling. Something poked Zigzag in the side, and he looked down, surprised to see the end of a Null-Void Gun. "But neither do you."

Numbuhs Four and Five shared an amused look while Zigzag swallowed nervously, suddenly looking a lot more wary of the girls standing around him.

"Zigzag," Numbuh Five said, "I'd like you to meet another of my teammates. Numbuh Three, this is one of the new recruits, Zigzag."

"Nice to meet you," Numbuh Three said, lowering her weapon and smiling even more brightly. Zigzag almost expected flowers to start popping up at the girl's feet.

"And that's Grey," she added, motioning to the girl Numbuh Four was still sitting on, hoping he would catch her subtle hint.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Numbuh Four said, hastily scrambling off of the girl and offering her a hand up. "Didn't mean to, uh…yeah," he trailed off, blushing slightly.

"No problem," she said, waving him off. "Good fight, by the way."

"Thanks," Numbuh Four said, grinning. Numbuh Five was sure she could see his head actually grow a little bigger.

"Not to interrupt the reunion," Juniper said, gaining the group's attention, "but our mission was to find you guys. I'm assuming the other two are around here somewhere," she added, directing the comment to Numbuh Five, who nodded. "Right, so, since our mission was to find you guys, I think it's time for us to get going. Shall we?" She raised an eyebrow when Numbuh Five's recruits umm'd, looking at one another and then to their commander. "Do I want to know?" she asked. Numbuh Five sighed, shaking her head.

"There's something you guys need to see."

* * *

The Frilled Fiend let out a low groan as it busied its self with rooting through the grass. Picking a spot at random it started kicking up dirt, occasionally bending over and using its little arms to assist in digging. It wasn't attempting to accomplish anything in particular, simply keeping busy as it awaited word from Lord Fuse, or a signal that the territory it had been assigned to protect had been infiltrated.

A strange sound from the nearby trees caused it to pause in its digging. Looking up, it tilted its head, the large frill around its neck shifting as the robotic dino tried to pick up on any possible radio waves coming from the tree line.

When nothing came of its searching the Frilled Fiend snorted in dismissal and returned to its hole, and for a few minutes it dug quietly. Nosing aside a clump of weeds, it was about to start chewing its way through a thick root when another sound from the trees drew its attention once more.

Frill adjusting and fine tuning towards the direction of the sound, the little computer of a brain the fusion possessed kicked into gear, one of its preprogrammed protocols kicking in: strange sound occurring twice, from the same location, the second instance within so many minutes of the first—something to be investigated.

Snuffling in what could have passed as fusion monster annoyance, the Frilled Fiend lumbered over to the trees. Shoving its head inelegantly into the bushes, it sniffed around. Its sensors detected a small spike in heat signature here—likely from an animal, scared off by the fusion's invasion of its space. Snorting, the dino pulled its head free, shaking leaves from its frill as it wandered off.

* * *

"Twice?" Juniper asked, staring at Numbuh Four, her expression incredulous. "Who almost sneezes and gives away his team's position _twice_?"

"When you gotta sneeze, you gotta sneeze," Numbuh Five offered from where she was lounging against a tree.

"I feel like while you're observing a recently discovered Fusion base swarming with fusion monsters is not the time for sneezing," Juniper said, shaking her head.

"Forget my sneezes," Numbuh four said. "What about that-that…that _place_ we just saw? What was that!?"

"It looked like a communications center," Numbuh Three offered, looking at Numbuh Four. "When we came to the jungle to find a spot for an outpost, we saw those monsters, the ones with the satellite dishes on them, and we figured they were being used like radios."

"Triceraclaws," Numbuh Four spat. "They kept interrupting our transmissions. Fuse used them to keep track of where we were and plan counter attacks against us."

"So…he could use them to predict your movements?" Juniper asked, the seed of an idea growing in her mind.

"Not exactly," Numbuh Four said. He scrunched his face in thought, and then said, "It was more like he could react to them a whole lot quicker."

"It's a big disadvantage if the enemy knows what you're gonna do before you can do it." Numbuh Five said, frowning at the implications of Numbuh Four's words. An uncomfortable feeling grew in the pit of her stomach when she noticed the expression on Juniper's face as she thought about it as well. "Is that what you think Fuse is trying to do?" she asked.

Piecing together Numbuh Four's words with what she'd just seen, and the unusual events of her last mission, a single possibility was beginning to rear its ugly head in Juniper's mind. While not something Juniper wanted to ever even consider possible, she knew it wasn't one that could be ignored. And so, with a growing sense of dread, she spoke the realization that had begun to take form almost three days ago, while she sat on watch after days of Skeeter attacks.

"No, I think he's already doing it."


	8. Chapter 8

**P**retty sure this is my first real action scene, so please feel free to provide any comments or criticisms you can to help me improve the ones to come! Also finally bringing the (long awaited) Ben into the story~ (wasn't sure what version of Ben and his alien forms to go with, so I just picked the ones I liked and hoped it worked for the fic. Helpful input is welcome here as well!). This chapter is mostly battle practice/character interaction/plot development, but I hope it's still just as fun as the others have been and I hope you enjoy~!

* * *

There were times when Ben wondered if Lord Fuse wasn't simply throwing together fusion monsters in the vague hope that eventually one would come along that was so completely freakish looking that it just grossed out Earth's forces into surrendering. Because if he was, Ben thought, his latest fusion incarnation was certainly succeeding.

The aptly named Creeper King was as much a plant as Ben was a plate of chili fries. A pile of fusion matter with legs, fangs, and vaguely leafy appendages, it leaked green goo constantly and smelled like something long dead. However, that was not the worst of it. Nor, in Ben's opinion, was it the monster's beady red eyes or the way fusion matter saliva dribbled from its always-open jaws.

The worst part of the Creeper Kings, in Ben's not so humble opinion, were their slimy four foot tongues.

One of which he was currently caught in.

"Let go of me, you drooling creep!" Ben, or rather Spidermonkey, squealed, the blue Arachnichimp flailing all six of its limbs against the dripping appendage. The Creeper King that held him roared around its extended tongue, bracing its self on all fours as it attempted to reel in its catch.

"Not so fast, slime ball!"

Spidermonkey stopped his flailing just in time to see a massive orange and silver fist slam down on the Creeper King's tongue, drawing a scream of pain from the fusion. Its grip on the alien monkey released as the much more pressing threat drew its attention.

"Not much fun when you start picking on someone your own size, now is it?" Rex asked, grinning as he pulled back his other fist. His punch caught the Creeper in the jaw, sending it reeling. Two more consecutive hits and Rex released his grip on the fusion's tongue, leaving it to stumble back, dazed by the heavy blows.

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet." Rex's hands shifted, his right smackhand being reabsorbed into his body while the left reformed, his arm changing into a giant projectile launcher.

"That's awesome," Spidermonkey breathed, staring wide eyed at the nanite-weapon.

"Be impressed later," Rex said, looking back as he angled the slamcannon down towards the ground, the rear maw sliding open and projecting into the dirt. "You've got company!"

"What—?" Spidermonkey started to say, but he cut off as his enhanced reflexes kicked in, shooting a sting of webbing into a nearby tree and pulling him to safety just as another fusion monster came crashing down on the spot where he'd just stood.

Snarling in frustration, the fusion turned its head from side to side, trying to figure out where its prey had vanished to. From his position hidden among the trees, Spidermonkey grinned at the monster's expense.

"Where did it go?" he whispered while the fusion, another Creeper King, snorted, its red eyes glowing angrily as it tried to pinpoint the blue monkey. Spidermonkey waited until the fusion was looking in the opposite direction, and then he lunged

"Bonzai!" the Arachnichimp squealed as it sailed from the tree, all six legs spread as he flew towards the Creeper. Spotting him, the fusion spun towards him, the spine along its back rising up as it roared. It reared back, preparing to lash out at the alien with its massive tongue, but Spidermonkey, having already fallen for the same attack once, wasn't about to be caught again.

"Take this!" he screeched, twisting in midair to fire a sheet of webbing at the fusion. The attack caught the monster straight in the jaw, forcing its head back and causing the monster to stumble to the side. Landing in a crouch behind the Creeper King, Spidermonkey quickly swiveled around to face the fusion.

The Creeper King was shaking its head, emitting an enraged, muffled noise as it tried to pry apart jaws now covered in a layer of Arachnichimp web. Reaching up with its front…Spidermonkey was hesitant to call them _paws_, the fusion's anger only grew as those, too, became stuck. The more the fusion struggled, the more trapped it became, until it was simply forced to lie still, emitting a string of miserable growls.

At least, until an orange saw blade came slashing down, reducing the monster to the fusion matter it had once been.

"And that makes seven," Rex said, his weapon returning to its usual sword blade.

"Brag, brag, brag," Spidermonkey said right before, with a few warning beeps and a flash of green light, Ben reappeared on the battlefield.

"No need to be jealous," Rex said, grinning.

"Psh," was Ben's response. "I'm not jealous."

"Oh yeah?" Rex asked as he transformed his arm back into an arm. "And what are you at? Three?"

"So?" Ben asked. Actually, he'd only been able to take out two monsters, his unexpected change into Spidermonkey derailing his competition with his fellow superhero. Not that he was going to remind Rex of _that_ anytime soon.

"So," Rex said, drawing out the word as he crossed his arms over his chest, "you're je—" He'd started to say jealous, when a roar from somewhere in the nearby darkness of the Twisted Forest reminded the pair that they were still in the middle of a battlefield, and that their brief reprieve didn't mean the fight was over.

Trees tumbled in a truly dramatic fashion as another Creeper King burst onto the slimy battleground. Its jaws hung wide open and it thrashed its head side to side, searching for a target to capture in its thick, flailing tongue.

"Disgusting," Ben mumbled, pulling a face.

"Not done yet, are you?" Rex teased. Ben caught the boy's playful look and grinned, hand already going for the device at his wrist.

"Just try and keep up."

Now that was what Rex wanted to hear. Spinning to face the oncoming fusions he hunkered down, nanites pooling into his arm. As soon as the slamcannon finished forming it was in the ground, digging up ammo and firing on the incoming monster.

"Nice shot," Four-arms called as he leapt past Rex, following the stunned Creeper King as it stumbled back into the trees. He chased it back with a series of punches before it managed to regain its footing. Massive tongue slithering out of its dripping lips, it easily scooped up the angry alien and tossed it aside. Four-arms's "Oh crud!" trailed through the air as he thrown across the clearing, trees crumpling under him as he crash landed.

"My turn," Rex said, his cannon shifting back into a pair of massive fists as he lunged at the creeper. With a single, well aimed hit, he sent the creeper flying. He spun, watching the monster's trajectory—

To find himself face-to-face with one of the soldiers under his command. The young kid (who was quite a bit shorter, so was it really face-to-face?) was simply staring up at the older fighter.

"Uh...can I help you?" Rex asked, glancing over the kid's shoulder at the Creeper lying a dozen feet away. It was shaking its head and slowly stumbling to its mismatched feet.

"I have an urgent message from Central Command for Captain Rex and Commander Tennyson." Rex stared at the boy, incredulous.

"Can't it wait?" he asked, "We're kind of in the middle of something—Get down!" he shouted the last bit, tackling the boy to the ground as the Creeper Monster sailed over them, jaws snapping shut over the air where they'd only just been standing. A red blur came flying past as Four-arms tackled the monster, dragging it away from the pair.

The boy, seemingly unfazed by the fact that they were in the middle of a war zone, shook his head.

"Commander Tennyson said it couldn't wait."

"Commander…" Rex blinked, looking over his shoulder at the red alien still stubbornly clinging to his rampaging Creeper. "Oh," he said, realization dawning, "Gwen. Doesn't she realize—" Rex cut himself off as he leapt up, swinging another punch as the Creeper charged him once again, red alien flailing as it clung to the monster's head. The hit sent both fusion and rider sailing off to one side, the monster dropping a few broken teeth as it went, "—that we're in the middle of a battle right now?" The boy's response was a blank look.

"Should I patch her through?" he asked. Rex gaped at the boy. He simply stared back. Rex sighed—he knew defeat when he saw it.

"Yeah, patch her through."

Nodding his satisfaction, the boy pulled a device from his pocket and started pushing buttons. "Commander Tennyson," he said after a moment, "I've patched you through."

"_Thanks," _Gwen's voice said, coming through the radio in Rex's ear. _"Ben, Rex, can you hear me?"_

"Loud and clear," said Rex, while a confused 'wha?' sounded from where Four-arms was still fusion-wrangling. He'd since managed to pin the monster's tongue to the ground, and was now wielding a fallen tree like a baseball bat against the fusion.

"Uh, hey Gwen," Four-arms greeted, "what's up?"

"_Nothing much," _she said, her tone oddly laid back for an urgent battlefield transmission. _"Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that we'll be needing Rex for a new mission in a little bit."_

"Need…" Four-arms trailed off as he swung, the hit splattering the fusion back into goo. "You know, it's not like we're using him here or anything," he said.

"_I know, I know," _Gwen said. _"Don't worry, we'll send someone to take over for him."_

Rex frowned, glancing at the kid who'd showed up so suddenly with news of Gwen's call. He'd said it was "urgent." Rex wondered now if the fact that Gwen wasn't saying the same thing meant that the kid had simply been over reacting.

For some reason, Rex doubted it.

"I guess I can handle a new mission right now," he said, earning a confused look from Four-arms. He returned it with a pointed look, one he hoped said _I'll explain later._

"_Oh good," _Gwen said. "_Think you guys can wrap things up soon?"_

"How soon?" Rex asked. He watched as Four-arms hefted his tree bat, turning to look at the newest trio of fusion monsters that had emerged from the trees.

"_About an hour," _Gwen said. Rex faltered, looking up at Four-arms. The red alien glanced to the approaching monsters and back.

"An hour?" Four-arms repeated.

"_Yeah," _Gwen said. _"Think you guys can do it?"_

That did the trick. Rex felt his expression shift, his own determination reflected in Four-arms's yellow eyes as his arms shifted, the smackhands vanishing, replaced with a massive sword.

"Gwen," he said, a grin on his face, "Consider your challenge accepted."

* * *

"Wow," Rex said, shielding his eyes as he looked skyward, "when your cousin says something'll arrive in an hour, she means an hour." He had to yell to be heard over the roar that filled the air.

"You're telling me," Ben agreed.

The two teens were standing at the edge of a wide clearing, observing the small transporter—a DexLabs invention—as it was guided in by a half dozen kids in what looked like self-made headsets, sitting in front of an equally homespun looking bank of computers. Two more kids stood out in the clearing, waving little red flags in a complex series of patters than Rex was sure had to be doing more to confuse the pilots than help them.

The rest of the clearing was a flurry of activity, young soldiers scurrying this way and that as they worked to finish securing the land they had recently regained from Fuse. They were organizing teams with the local S.A.C.T. agents to begin containing the fusion matter spilled about and sending out patrols to finish up the smattering of fusion monsters still lurking within the dark woods.

A few of the soldiers stopped what they were doing to look up, their interest piqued by the unexpected visitor dropping into their midst. Curious guesses were bandied about—More troops coming to back them up; Not likely, the ship's too small; Maybe we're going home early; Bet it's a commander visiting, better look sharp—but no one hovered long enough to see for sure, not willing to be _that guy_, the one who made the whole company look bad because he wasted a few moments gawking.

The wind kicked up by the ship's thrusters sent a few soldiers scrambling, their supplies toppling as the transport made its final decent. Despite all the wind and noise, its final landing wasn't much—the faintest of jolts as the ship touched down on four tiny struts, a dainty landing that wrapped up a chaotic approach.

"Kind of like Dexter," Rex joked as the engines died down, allowing them to speak at normal volumes once more. "Lots of posturing, but no real impact." Ben grinned, picturing the diminutive scientist, specifically his reaction to something gone awry—lots of ranting and large wrench waving, but very little violence to follow. For the most part, anyway.

"You should see Dexter's battle robot," Ben said. "It's got all the impact Dexter needs."

"Dexter has a battle robot?" Rex asked. Ben nodded, grinning. Rex stared at him, his disbelief written across his face. "Now this is something I've got to see to believe."

"Ben talking about the A he finally got in history again?"

Rex wasn't quite sure how Ben managed to look both annoyed and elated as he turned to face the dark haired boy walking towards them, who happened to be dragging a smaller boy along behind him, but he was none the less impressed.

"What can I say?" Ben said with a shrug, "It's a riveting story."

"Yeah, yeah," the boy said, who Rex belatedly recognized as one of Ben's friends, Commander Levin. "Captain," the Commander added, nodding in greeting to Rex.

"Commander," Rex greeted in return. The teen grimaced at the use of his title.

"Call me Kevin," he said. Rex smothered a grin—Kevin's response had been identical to Ben's the first time he and Rex had met.

"Sure," Rex said. He them motioned to the boy Kevin was carting along, who had continued to talk to Kevin even as the older boy pointedly ignored him, spewing reasons for why he was the perfect candidate for the "super secret awesome mission" the Kevin was apparently about to undertake. "So uh, who's your friend?"

"Oh, right," Kevin said, looking down at the boy as if he'd only just remembered he was with him. He lifted the boy bodily from the ground by the back of his shirt, earning a surprised 'whoa!' from the kid, and then set him down in front of Ben. "This is Zak," he said, nudging the kid forward. "He's Rex's replacement."

Zak, who had only moments earlier been overflowing with stuff to say, now fell silent as he stared up at the two teens standing before him. He looked as if his face couldn't decide on an expression to wear, admiration, uncertainty, and affected cool all warring for a position.

"So," Ben said, giving Zak a moment to pick an emotion to go with, "what's this oh so urgent mission of Gwen's?" Even though his tone was playful, Ben's expression was tense—despite Gwen attempting to suggest otherwise during her brief contact with the boys, Ben knew that any mission requiring pulling a high ranking officer from the middle of a battle field without warning wasn't something to take lightly.

"Sorry Ben," Kevin said, "its top secret."

Code for, "this isn't really the time or place, but when I get back I'm going to brag forever, and then I might actually tell you what the mission was about."

Ben was not surprised by this response in the slightest while Rex, not yet versed in the intricacies of the teenaged alien hero language, simply grew all the more excited.

"So when do we leave?" he asked.

"You ready to go?" Kevin asked back. Rex nodded. "Then right now. Blossom's waiting in the transport for us."

That gave Rex pause. Himself, an alien-human hybrid, _and _the leader of the Powerpuff Girls? That sure was a lot of fire power. Glancing at Ben, Rex was a little pleased to see that the boy's expression hinted to him thinking the same thing. Kevin shrugged, and then motioned to the transport.

"Come on," he said, turning and starting towards the ship, its engines already beginning to power back up, "Places to go, people to see, fusion monsters to pummel."

Rex spared one more look back at Ben, who wished the pair a quick 'good luck'.

And as he headed for the DexLabs transport he found himself wondering, not for the first time, about this whole 'fighting a war' thing, and what exactly it was he was getting himself into.

* * *

Ben stared after the transport ship, waiting until after it had disappeared over the trees before he turned his attention back to the black and white haired boy Kevin had left him with. He'd heard plenty of second-hand accounts of the boy's abilities, having never seen them for himself, and he knew better than to discount the young hero because of his age—he'd been the same age, maybe even younger, when he'd stumbled across the omnitrix for the first time.

Zak, aware that he was being given a mental sizing-up by his higher ranking companion, finally settled on a look of indifference, hoping to convey that he was in no way intimidated by the older boy (and hopefully hide the fact that he was barely keeping a lid on the impulse to ask for an autograph). Ben, intimately familiar with the move Zak was attempting to pull, wasn't fooled in the least.

Deciding that the worst course of action to take with his newest soldier would be to leave him with nothing to do, thus leaving openings for unexpected chaos to brew, Ben threw on a grin and prepared to hand the boy his first task of the day. Zak, sensing impending responsibilities heading his way, unconsciously straightened.

"Well Zak, since Rex is gone, I'm going to need you to take on his tasks for the day. I'm putting you in charge of one of the fusion matter containment crews, crew number three—they're taking care of the area just to the south of us. How does that sound?"

Ben was surprised, but not entirely displeased, when Zak's response failed to be filled with childish excitement. Rather, he found himself fixed with a narrow eyed look.

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a lot less fun than you're trying to make it sound?" Zak asked. Ben snorted, letting the bright grin fall from his face.

"Because it will be," he admitted. "Now go and meet up with your crew, they're already waiting for you at your designated site. The S.A.C.T. agent there can get you started." Zak looked surprised at how easily Ben was handing him command.

"What about you?" he asked, "What are you going to be doing?" Ben sighed, handing Zak Rex's communicator, the teen having relinquished it once the fighting was finished.

"I will be with containment crew one," Ben said, deflating at the thought of it. Zak frowned.

"How come everyone else gets to go off on this awesome mission, while we have to clean up fusion goo?" he asked.

"And that," Ben said, pointing at Zak, "is probably the smartest question I've heard all day."


End file.
